Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (22 page)

“What?” Lily’s heart lurched. “What do you mean?”

A small head shake accompanied Charley’s sigh. “I made you work for the government when, in reality, we could have done anything we wanted.”

“Now listen here, young lady …” The forcefulness in Evelyn’s voice made Lily and Charley both turn toward her. “I’ve been watching you around here, and I know these folks put their faith in you. Why would you have doubts like that?”

A small smile tugged at Charley’s lips as her eyebrow rose and lowered.

“You did what you knew to do, Charley.” Lily snuggled in for a hug. “You’ve always done that, and we’ve never complained. You kept us safe. You kept us together. You did it right up until the last possible moment, even.”

“Last possible moment?” Evelyn asked as she stirred.

“There are some … let’s call them ‘forks in the road’ for Mimics,” Charley said.

“And this is something that Leigh will have to deal with?” Evelyn spooned some of the salsa onto a chip and held it out.

Both Lily and Charley bobbed their heads.

“It’s not something she’ll have to worry about for a long time, though.” Charley took the chip and bit. Her eyes closed as if she’d tasted a piece of heaven. “Oh, this is amazing.”

Lily took the second one offered.

“My own secret recipe.” Evelyn offered them both a light chuckle.

“This must be where you get your talents, Lil.” Charley took another chip as Wyatt joined her, his arms snaking around her upper shoulders. “You gotta try this.” She popped the morsel into his open mouth.

“So you like to cook, Lily?” Evelyn asked.

“Like to?” Wyatt asked with a smirk. “The woman is a master chef.”

Evelyn’s lips curved. “I like knowing that I’ve had an influence, even though I haven’t been around.”

Lily agreed with the sentiment and hoped she could get through Thursday and have more of the same—a normal life with a normal mom and a normal family.

18

By eleven that night, Cael had been fitted and disrobed of his James-Bond-like spy-wear, as had Maggie and Lily; it would all be replaced in the morning.

He followed Lily to her room where she dropped onto her bed, flat on her back.

“Lil? Can I … stay?” Cael didn’t wait for an answer, just closed the door and locked it. Worst case, he’d leave. Middle case, he’d fall asleep holding her in his arms. The best case caused a quickening in his groin.

She leaned up to her elbows. “You want to stay in here? Aren’t you the ‘everybody get some sleep’ guy?”

He laughed at her mimicked tone. “Lay back down. We have one more thing for you.”

Instead of staying put, she rose until seated.

Cael flopped down next to her.

“What do you have?” she asked.

He opened the box, wishing the ring he’d bought could have been inside, but knowing that moment would not have been a good one to propose. Then again, one kiss shouldn’t have convinced him she’d say ‘yes’, either. Instead, he held out Roy’s ring box—the very one Cael didn’t want Lily to wear or have any part in.

“James added some … stuff … to this.” It pained him to have to ask her to wear it, but the silver strips he’d added to the inner wall of the ring would allow them to track the wearer. “If you wear it, we’ll know where you are all the time.”

“But we have all the rest of these …” She pointed to her hair.

“I know. It’s just another … option.”
Precaution.
Lily’s hesitation brought a smile to Cael’s face. “You don’t have to.”

“Do you want me to wear it?”

“Hell, no, but it would give Roy that sense of accomplishment and provide another layer of safety.”

Lily draped her arms around his neck. “When this is over, I never want to see it again.”

Cael leaned to her lips and offered her a kiss. “Thank god.”

“You’re going to stop there?” Mischief twinkled in her eyes.

His brows winged up. “Don’t you want to—”

She whispered ‘no’ against his mouth as she kissed to one side and back.

“Lil?”

“Hmm?” She nipped at him.

“I’m not going to be able to hold back if you keep it up. I’ve been waiting, too.”

“I don’t want you to. I want to be filled by you. I want to know that we are who we are.” Her fingers moved to his jeans, tugging at the material. “I want to be everything for you. I want you to love me, Cael.” Her hand slipped between skin and cotton.

Cael moaned as he accepted her lips and swallowed the kiss. He nudged her hip until it pressed against him. “Even the most honorable usually have good intentions.” Cael nipped at her lower lip. “I don’t have ‘honorable intentions’ anymore. I want you with the passion of four armies about to go to battle.”

“Good.”

“But, Lily?”

She teased with her tongue. “What?”

“You know this is
the week
. I’m willing to take the risk, to deal with the one percent chance. To have a kid like Maggie and James. I’m willing, Lily, because this is our week. But are you?”

Her hesitation stopped him.

The crush of her lips had him barreling forward.

• • •

Conversation ceased as their bodies took hold of the moment. She slid her hands over his head and down his chest as he continued to ravage her mouth.

Lily needed Cael.

She wanted Cael.

If she could have him but for a moment, she’d take him.

Cael rolled with Lily until he straddled her, giving her plenty of access to every part of him. She ran her hands across his pecs, his arms, down to his waist, as he branded her mouth, her throat and lobes with his lips.

They’d seen each other naked in the line of duty, but Lily itched to feel and to taste.

Again.

She tugged at Cael’s T-shirt, pushing it up to his shoulders. The mix of soft and hard touches at her neck broke only for a second. With the solid planes of his abs revealed, Lily ran her hand over them. She knew Cael hadn’t enhanced his physique. He’d chosen his frame and worked out daily to stay in shape.

Trailing her hands across the ridges added to her arousal. When she reached his jeans button, he drew in air. One unclip, one unzip, and freedom to roam rested in the palm of her hand.

A squeeze elicited a moan from both of them.

A tug had Cael kicking out of his jeans one leg at a time.

With his release, Lily let her hands take in the contrasting softness and hardness, one equaling the other.

His lips could only go so far with her shirt and bra on.

Lily let go, received a ‘no’ in response but placed a finger to his lips. She nudged him back, yanked her T over her head, and before she could grab her pants, Cael had them sliding off.

He ran his hands from her knees up, his thumbs caressing the inside of her thighs as he traversed from lower to middle. Moving higher, he embraced her breasts, cupping and caressing them as she arched her back, desperate to have him against her again.

Cael lowered his body, using his elbows to prop his weight up.

Lily writhed beneath him. Between her legs, his desire jerked with each wiggle she made.

His lips sought the underside of her breasts, licking and teasing until Lily thought she could bear no more. When his teeth tugged at her nipple, she fisted the blankets, grasping as if her very existence depended on the contact.

He kissed a line from her cleavage to belly button, moving lower with each flutter until his tongue traced where his thumb had been before.

Her hands found his head, running her fingers over his short hair as he provided both pleasure and pain. When he stopped, she sucked in air.

His body ranged over hers a second later, their middles connecting as if drawn together by two magnets.

Pressure built in Lily’s abdomen to the point she figured she’d either self combust without Cael or burst the moment he entered her.

“Look at me, Lil.”

She did as he asked. Lily licked at the stubble he hadn’t bothered to remove, savoring the taste and texture of him every bit as much as he seemed to of her.

Her eyes stayed focused on his as he parted her legs with his own.

The mere thought of merging with Cael, of fulfilling a dream she’d had for so long, forced her eyes closed.

“Open your eyes, Lily.”

She fluttered them open, though her heart beat faster than she expected and heat rushed to every extremity.

His body thrust forward.

Lily cried out.

Cael slid back out, urged forth again, his actions as natural as the surf lapping against the sand at high tide.

With each thrust, Lily bit at her lip and squeezed her thighs wanting to keep Cael within her for as long as she could.

Muscles trembled in his arms, clenched in his jaw, but his gaze never strayed from hers.

A spiraling pleasure built within Lily—a lifetime of want and need all packaged into one, of waiting for the moment to happen, preparing for it, even.

Cael’s thrusts grew stronger. Faster.

Lily matched him, arching her back and clutching at his shoulders.

He sped up.

She cried out.

He moved deeper.

She wanted more.

Neither gave in.

Both took.

In a passion of yearning, as all consuming as their time apart had been.

As one, they both surrendered to their desire.

A sated smile flickered across her face.

“You look like a cat who’s just had a tasty snack of mouse.” Cael swiveled his hips, adding more sensation where Lily thought there could be none.

She curled her fists into the blankets as he carried on with his lazy movement. “I feel like the mouse who got away, though.” A small giggle had her squeezing and losing Cael’s momentum.

“Oops.” He slid to the side.

Before he could move his thigh over her, she snuggled up against him and wrapped her leg around him. “Cael?”

“Yeah?” He spoke with closed eyes.

“I love you.”
And I hope that’s enough.

He held her tight against him. “I’ve loved you forever, Lily.”

• • •

The occupants of the house on top of Turner Point woke the following morning to thunder that rocked the house and lightning spearing the sky. By noon, the torrent of rain had slowed to a constant trickle, with interspersed bouts of a downpour.

At four, Wyatt called them all—not including Lily’s exclusively human family—into James’s office. “One more time,” he said. “The game plan.”

Groans moved through James, Cael, Stuart and Charley, even Lily herself.

Maggie simply filed away at her nails as Stuart rolled his eyes.

They’d been over the plans in as much detail as possible the night before, at breakfast, again at lunch and at two. Charley had put a stop to his review at that point and disappeared with him for an hour into the basement.

If nothing else, Lily trusted Wyatt had been thorough.

“Cael … you walk us through it,” Wyatt said.

Cael stepped to the center of the room. “Lily goes to the bus station, to the x-marks-the-spot spot, with Maggie.”

“Have you decided yet what you want her to be, Lily?” Wyatt asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Lily sat at the computer, typed in ‘white Maltese’ and clicked on the first image that appeared. “This.” She’d always hoped for a little dog, but figured with their life and work, it wouldn’t be practical.

“You want me to be a fru-fru dog?”

Lily shrugged. “They travel really well. I have one of those little doggie bag holder things.”

Maggie clicked on a variety of photos. “Oh, my god. You are
not
putting a pink ribbon in my hair.” She spun to Charley. “Do not let her put a pink ribbon in my hair!” At James she stopped and turned back to the monitor. “Good god, these are yippy dogs.”

“I take it you haven’t been one of these, then?” Wyatt asked.

Lily hid her smile behind her hand. She knew full well Maggie would never have taken on the role of a Maltese with their sweet temperament and friendly disposition. If given the option, Maggie would probably have chosen to be a Doberman with a lot of big, sharp teeth.

“You’re not backing out are you, Mags?” James asked.

Lily cocked her head at his use of her nickname. He hadn’t called her that in years. Bitch came out quite often, as did her reference to him as a jackass, though Lily thought neither warranted either name.
Except for Maggie, sometimes.

“Of course I’m not. I said I would be whatever she wants—” She sucked in deep. “—and I will. No big deal.” She shook her head, shoulders and arms. “But not until the very … and I mean very … last minute.”

“Thank you, Maggie,” Lily said.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Okay, so back to logistics.” Wyatt pulled up the city grid for the bus station and surrounding buildings.

Cael pointed to the places that would give the most visibility to their cars so they could follow the bus—or a car if Roy changed his mode of transportation. Charley would be with James in his van. Wyatt would be inside the station while Cael would be in a separate car at the only exit from the parking lot.

“… And then we follow them wherever they go. The end.”

“Well, not ‘the end’,” Maggie said. “Then we gotta get to wherever we’re going and get back—”

“Safely,” Charley said. “And everyone in one piece, okay?”

• • •

Oil permeated the air as Lily stepped from her car outside the bus station, where people milled about, meandering into and out of the building, passing and bumping into each other in the process. The blurt of big diesel engines, starting and stopping, competed with the speaker system announcing last minute calls for passengers to embark.

She locked the car door and hitched the bag carrying Maggie over her shoulder. A small bark escaped as Lily jostled her. “Oops. Sorry … Mags.” Lily opted to use James’s nickname since it seemed to fit such a cute, little puppy dog.

“Two feet forward, Lily,” James’s soothing voice said in her ear.

It amazed her that the single, sticky-point up in her ear canal could convey his voice with such clarity.

Rather than respond, she did as he said. One foot moved. The other followed.

At the door, she noted the numbers above the frame. “Fourteen.”