One You Never Leave (2 page)

Getting married proved more of a chore than it needed to be because of legal paper situation. They had to secure his Mexican birth certificate to get married under his birth name, Raymondo Icherra. It was a point of law that galled Luke, but Luke’s attorney, Matt Stone, assured him that once his citizenship came through, Luke was free to change his name. Right now, Luke was living in the country he grew up in under a K-1 visa and there was a whole lot of back and forth to get that. After that, he needed a new driver’s license with his legal name on it, and a new social security card. When Emily thought about all the tense moments to get all this straightened out, she got a headache. It was a real mess, but finally they had received the temporary visa and the marriage license.

Maybe a good dinner, and then some snuggling under a blanket while watching a movie would put him in a better mood. Certainly, not cooking would put her in a better mood. “How about pizza tonight?” she suggested.

“Pizza?” said Luke with suspicion. “I thought we were watching our pennies, Mrs. Wade.”

She didn’t bother to correct him that legally she was Mrs. Icherra. The point would only bring up an argument not worth having. Plus, she’d gone and had to have the name changed to Wade. “I think we can spring for a pizza and just maybe a six-pack.”

“Wow, pulling out all the stops, aren’t you? What’s the occasion?”

“I just want to see the man I love happy.”

“Oh really?”

“Mamma’s not happy unless Daddy’s happy.”

He glanced at her slyly. “You know what’s going to make Daddy happy?”

She giggled. “Oh, I’ve already got that department covered. Food first, then dessert.”

His grin widened into a smile. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Complications

“
Oh
, for fuck’s sake!” Luke slammed the door when he came back from the mail kiosk.

Emily stood in the kitchen, getting the plates for dinner, and nearly dropped them on the floor when Luke exploded. Her husband might swear, but she hardly ever heard him drop the F-bomb. Nor did he slam the door. “What is it, baby?”

“The fucking USCIS! They sent a letter saying that they are going to do random home inspections to make sure we are living together as a married couple!”

“What?” If Luke wasn’t so distressed, Emily would have laughed at the ludicrous situation. She walked to Luke in the living room and took the letter from his hand. “Baby, it isn’t a big deal,” she said, gently kissing his cheek. “So they come. Big deal. What’re they going to find? That you have stinky feet? That I can barely get out of bed without your help? That your wife is about to pop? That’s a pretty good clue we
are
married, and with a healthy sexy life.”

Luke ran his hand over the top of his close-shaved head. “It’s just one more thing to deal with.”

She rubbed his jaw with her hand. Many women didn’t like the feel of a man’s five o’clock shadow, but she loved it. “Babe, it’s going to be okay. Really.” She smiled at him.

Just then the doorbell rang.

“There, that’s the pizza. Go get it and I’ll grab you a beer.”

Luke sighed, and looked over his shoulder. “Stinky feet?” he glowered.

“Yep. You know it. That’s another thing you need, a new pair of boots. And a whole lotta socks.”

Luke
groaned.

Emily just smiled at him. She was keeping a list of these things in her head. The Everything-He-Needed list was a growing one, but she knew Luke had other concerns, number one being finding a bigger place for them to live. They had moved into his apartment because it was larger than her old one, but the one-bedroom apartment was not big enough for their growing family. Plus, there was a whole host of baby things and furniture they needed. She knew that not for a second did he regret that she was pregnant with their child, but sometimes thinking about their expanding responsibilities unsettled him.

And the USCIS wanted to check if they were really married. What a joke!

Luke opened the door and frowned when he didn’t see the pizza delivery man. Emily stood behind to see who was there.

Instead, a very thin woman in a gray wool coat stood at the door. Her dark hair was piled into a bun and her face had the pinched look of someone overworked. “I’m looking for Mr. and Mrs. Icherra.”

“What? Oh, that’s me. And the wife, of course.”

“The name on the mailbox says Wade.”

“Well, that was my name before the government took it away.”

The woman frowned and looked through some papers in her hand.

“Luke, who is it?” Emily came to the door.  She glanced at the woman and smiled. “Hello,” she said holding out her hand, “I’m Emily.”

The woman looked up. “I’m Agent Coates from the USCIS. I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“Really?” She shook the surprise from her face. “Please come in, Agent Coates. We were expecting pizza delivery.”  Emily ushered the woman into their home and settled her in the chair that sat kitty-corner to the couch.

Luke sank onto the sofa and Emily sat next to him and took his hand.

“What can we do for you, Agent?” asked Emily.

“I have some questions about your application.”

“My application?” said Luke. “We went through all that in our interview.”

“Well, there are irregularities in your application. You did enter the country illegally.”

“Yes, that’s true. My parents brought me in when I was five.”

“And you didn’t apply through the U.S. consulate in your country.”

“Begging your pardon, but
this
is my country, Agent. I can’t help it if my parents brought me here when I was too young to know the difference.”

“Not according to the law, Mr. Icherra,” she replied sharply.

Luke took out his cell phone. “Maybe we should get my lawyer in on the conversation.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said Coates.

“Maybe it is. You’re talking about matters of law and it’s my lawyer who has been handling my case. I admit my case is mess—unique. Somehow, and now I don’t even know how with everything we went through, WITSEC got my father, my mother, and me into government witness protection. All my identification papers came out of their program. As far as I knew, I was an American citizen. I went to public school, served in the U. S. Navy for heaven’s sake, and went to college here. Now, because of the screwed up paperwork of one government agency, I’m in trouble with another one.”

The woman set her jaw and looked down at her papers. “And despite this, you marry an American citizen. It seems a bit too convenient.”

“Is that so?” said Luke tersely.

“When did you meet Emily?”

“In high school. We dated.”

“Is that right, Mrs. Icherra?”

“Actually, my name is Wade. When we married, I changed my name to Wade so that when Luke did become a citizen we wouldn’t have to change two names. It’s all perfectly legal. Our lawyer assured us of that.”

“I see,” said Coates, as if she didn’t. “And you met in high school?”

“Yes. We were both seventeen.”

“I see. So you were apart for an extended period.”

“Ten years,” said Luke.

“And how did you reunite?”

“It was the sweetest thing,” said Emily. “He sent me a postcard telling me he’d never stopped thinking about me. It was one of the promotional postcards from his motorcycle shop,”

“One of the old ones, from the previous owner,” said Luke.

“That’s right,” said Emily brightly, “and I tracked him down.”

Luke chuckled at that.

“And when did all this happen?”

“The spring,” said Emily.

“We’ve been together ever since,” said Luke.

“Well,” said Emily, “except for the summer. Luke was pushed into being an informant for the DEA and he didn’t want me in danger, so he pretended he didn’t want me.”

“I see,” said Coates even more tersely. “The DEA. Why?”

“The old president of my motorcycle club was dealing drugs, but they couldn’t get anything on him.”

“And were you involved in his activities?”

“No! I just did what the DEA wanted: kept an eye on him and reported everything.”

“Uh-huh,” said the agent as if she didn’t believe him. “You realize that involvement with drug activities immediately disqualifies you for a visa to remain in this country.”

“Look!” said Luke sharply. “I was threatened with deportation if I didn’t cooperate with the DEA. You can’t hold me accountable for that. I kept as far away from Kinney and his shit as I could.”

“Luke,” chided Emily softly. “Agent Coates, perhaps you should speak with DEA Agent Leo Moyes. He was the agent in charge of the case. He’ll confirm that Luke is required to stay in the country to testify in the case.”

“That may be so, but from what I see here I don’t see how Mr. Icherra can remain in the country. He was here illegally for longer than six months, and that usually requires that he has to leave and stay out of the country for ten years before he can apply for a visa to return.”

Luke glared at the agent and Emily put her hand on his arm. “That’s why we have a lawyer, Agent Coates,” said Emily softly. “We’re aware of the difficulties of Luke’s unusual case.”

“Oh, I see more than difficulties. The short time you were together before you married is a big red flag. Association with criminal elements is another. Being here illegally is yet another. Your unusual application process… the list seems to go on, doesn’t it?”

“Well,” said Luke, “as my wife said, that’s why we have a lawyer.”

Agent Coates stood. “We’ll be in touch. I’ll need to look into this. It requires a lot more investigation. I would suggest not going anywhere. Don’t try hiding in another state.”

“My wife’s about to have a baby! This is bull—”

“Thank you for coming by,” Emily cut him off and shepherded the woman to the door. When she clicked the door shut, she shook her head at him.

Luke swore again. “Did you have to be so fucking nice to her?”

“Really? This is my fault?”

Luke opened his mouth to argue and then closed it again.

“It doesn’t do any good to be rude to a federal agent. She’s just doing her job.”

“Yeah,” said Luke, “like Moyes and Hector were doing their jobs.”

Emily bit her lip. Leo Moyes pressured Luke into becoming an informant. But it was Hector Garcia, the DEA agent, who pretended to be Luke’s loyal friend. That galled her husband the most. “Sit; I’ll bring you a beer.”

“You’ve said that before woman, and I’m still waiting.”

“Well, if you’re complaining, get your own beer.” She walked away and Luke caught her arm and pulled her back, twirling her so that her side pressed against his body. Emily threw her arms around his neck as he put his hand on her rounded belly. The baby kicked just then, which brought a smile to Luke’s face.

“Little guy is getting big,” said Luke huskily.

“Don’t I know it,” sighed Emily. “I’ll be glad when the baby is born and I don’t feel like I have a basketball for a stomach.”

Luke rubbed little circles where the baby kicked. “I like your stomach. It’s sexy.”

“No, it is not!” she said.

He nibbled the back of her neck and she shivered. “You don’t get to say what I find sexy. You can think what you want about your stomach, but to me it means you are growing our child inside you, and that’s hot.”

She leaned against him, loving his husky voice so close to her ear saying such sweet things to her.

“I love you,” she sighed.

“Same here.” He raised his hand to her breasts and rubbed her nipple, which had pebbled and stuck out from her bra. “I love how full your breasts are now, and how sensitive they are to my touch.”

Liquid heat gathered between Emily’s legs as his fingers played with her nipples through her shirt. It was true that after the first rough months of her pregnancy her body became incredibly sensitive to Luke’s caresses.

“I bet,” he said in low voice, “if I felt between your legs, I’d find how wet you are.”

Emily swallowed. It was true that Luke made her crazy with desire every time he touched her. Being pregnant amplified her physical need for him. Luke took Emily’s tiny hand and placed it on his crotch, where she found the swell of his arousal through his jeans. She stroked the steely length through the fabric, and he sighed. “Woman, what you do to me.”

“The pizza’s going to be here any moment,” said Emily.

“I don’t have either pizza or beer in my hand at the moment, and I need to put my mouth on something.”

In a second, Luke jerked up her shirt over her head and unsnapped her bra, letting her creamy white breasts spill out. Luke leaned in and sucked up a nipple sharply and hard, causing Emily to arch backward with a sharp hiss. He let that one drop and took the other one, suctioning it just as tightly and swirling his tongue around the tender nub.

“Please, Luke,” she pleaded.

“I’d like to please you,” he said, lifting his head briefly from her creamy orbs.

“Baby,” she pleaded again.

His hands wandered to her cleft. His fervent attention to her nipples and her anticipation of his touch on her rapidly-swelling clit ramped up her desire. Her panties were soaked with her slickness, and the delicious fire of arousal spread through her body. Her husband leaned into her thigh again, pressing his hard, jean-clad length into her.

“See what you do to me, baby,” he whispered in her ear. She shivered and bent her face towards his lips. He took her lips swiftly, slipping his tongue inside her mouth and caressing her own with it. Luke tasted like he always did, hot and masculine, the warmth of his kiss overpowering her resistance.

“The pizza’ll be here any minute,” she said weakly.

“Then we’ll have to be quick,” he said with a wicked smile. “Grab the top of the sofa, and bend over!”

“What?”

He gave her a light slap on her bottom. “You heard me.”

Emily giggled at the wicked image of her husband taking her with her bent over the sofa. But she liked the thought too, so she did as Luke ordered.

Luke jerked down her work-out pants that she donned for comfort, and her panties, and quite unexpectedly dropped to his knees and pressed his tongue upward between her legs, lapping up the juices that pooled there. His tongue laved her most sensitive places, sending jolts of electricity through her. She moaned and was rewarded by Luke thrusting up even harder, the scruff from his five o’clock shadow scraping her thighs in the most delicious way. It wasn’t painful, but it made her even more aware of the ministrations Luke lavished on her clit and folds. His tongue curled and caressed the soft flesh of her labia and hood, and she came in a rush, crying his name and bucking against his face.