StrategicSurrender (16 page)

Hayden had protected her with his very life, had put
everything on the line for her, the least she could do in return was expend her
energy to heal him from the gunshot he had received while defending
her
.
Shaking hard, Kiera cracked her eyes open into tiny slits and glanced at her
lover’s shoulder. The wound was still red, the flesh around the injury slightly
inflamed, but the skin now was the healthy, faint pink of the recently healed,
and not the raw wound it had been.

Slowly she lowered her hand and drew what little of her
energy remained back into her. Spent, she took the near-empty glass of water
she had given Hayden earlier and slowly sipped at it to give her time to
recover before she would have to speak.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Hayden chided her gently as he held
his arms open. Kiera finished the water, replaced the glass and crawled next to
him on the bed and leaned into him. His arms came warmly around her and held
her comfortingly. For the first time all day Kiera felt loved, safe and secure
within her lover’s embrace.

Both Kiera and Hayden shifted on the soft mattress, Kiera
rearranging the pillows behind Hayden’s back to be more supportive in his half-sitting,
half-lying position and also behind her own back and side as she lay curled
into him.

“Let’s not do that again,” Kiera finally said when they were
both more comfortably settled. Hayden snorted but made a “um-hum” noise of
agreement.

With a slow, heavy sigh Kiera closed her eyes despite the
mid-afternoon hour and let every muscle in her body relax. She was wrung dry,
physically, emotionally and magically. A part of her wanted to burrow even
further into Hayden’s embrace and just forget the rest of the world existed.
Surely the two of them could take a short time out and just nap? Kiera felt as
if they both deserved it at the least.

“I might not be a Guardian, sweetheart,” Hayden said
drowsily after a moment’s pause, “but I can definitely keep you safe.”

Kiera mumbled positively but didn’t open her eyes.

“Well, I can,” Hayden insisted firmly.

“I believe you,” Kiera chuckled, determined to keep her eyes
firmly shut. “You’ll notice it wasn’t I who was the one shot out of the two of
us. Of course, there’s a bounty out on
your
head too, so while I was the
one who stole a car and got us away to safety it was definitely you who helped
slow those goons down. Frankly, while I think we will never be Bonnie and
Clyde, we certainly kicked some righteous ass together.”

“I think I might need to call in reinforcements,” Hayden
answered dejectedly. Kiera shifted closer to Hayden, wrapped her arms more
tightly around him and nuzzled his neck.

“Um, why do you think that?” she murmured softly, still
hopeful of falling asleep in a few moments when they had finished talking.

“Well, there really does seem to be a large contingent of
annoyingly persistent people out there determined to cash in on our heads,”
Hayden replied in a morose tone. “While I don’t plan for us to hide away out
here and stick our heads under the covers, since they tracked my car pretty
easily it won’t take anyone determined long to find this place.”

Kiera cracked open an eye, slightly frustrated that her nap
was now a fond memory of the past, and she tilted her head up so she could look
at Hayden as they discussed this.

“Should I grab a shower now while the getting is good?” she
asked curiously. “Or is this more of a planning for the next few hours being
bandied about?”

“My ownership of this cabin is buried decently,” Hayden
insisted. “It’s my bolt-hole for when things get too hot. It was my maternal
grandmother’s and is still in her name, though I am the legal owner of it
technically. It would take some heavy digging and—more importantly—very
expensive bribery to uncover my ownership of it. I think you’ll find we’re good
here at least for the night. We might need to move on tomorrow, however.”

Kiera sighed but nodded her head in understanding.

“Oh, well that’s okay. I can definitely deal with that.
Right now the last thing I want to do is move though,” she replied and snuggled
back down again.

“I really should make that phone call before we nap though,”
Hayden apologized. Kiera laughed and shook her head.

“That means you have to move, right?” she grumbled good-naturedly.
Hayden laughed and sat up properly. Kiera rolled to her side and pulled the
pillow to a better angle under her head so she could recline but still watch as
her lover made an uncomfortable face as he reached out to pick up the receiver
of the phone on the bedside table.

Hayden dialed a number from memory and Kiera watched as he
waited while it rang.

“This is Hayden Foxworth,” Hayden spoke when someone
evidently picked up on the other end. “I’d like to speak to Kyle Revell please.
Dude, yes, how are you? Sorry I didn’t recognize your voice on the phone. How’s
things?”

Kiera breathed deeply and closed her eyes, letting her mind
drift as Hayden listened to what the man on the other end said. Her attention
wandered and she eavesdropped with only half an ear as Hayden set up a meeting
in the briefest of terms.

“Yeah I might have a spot of work for you and Sally, are you
busy? No? Oh good… This might be a bit delicate and I’m trusting you both here,
have you heard the news? Ah, yes, that news… No I’m taking care of Kiera, I’ve
hired a Guardian for Josh, so he will be fine…Yeah, we’re wanting to get a
handle on this before it goes crazy and drags on too long….Exactly, the last
thing I need are out-of-state contractors coming in and making this go on
forever. Can we meet up and discuss this?”

“Make it for later,” Kiera murmured halfheartedly. “I need a
nap and a shower before I meet anyone. I stink of blood and who knows what
else.”

“Dinner time?” Hayden repeated into the phone. “Sure, that
suits us perfectly. Where?” There was a slight pause before Hayden parroted,
“Dan’s diner?”

His tone alone had Kiera once more cracking open an eye.
Hayden wore an expression that appeared almost pained. She snorted, rubbed her
eyes and continued to watch her lover. Appearing resigned Hayden nodded clearly
reluctant.

“Sure, yeah, Kiera and I will meet you and Sally there
around seven. Okay, Kyle, thanks, buddy. We will see you there.”

Hayden hung up the phone and flopped back onto the pillows
with a groan.

“I
hate
Dan’s,” he complained. “It’s swarming with
snitches and riffraff, not to mention I could swear it’s infested with fleas.
Every time I meet someone there I itch like crazy after I leave.”

“Aww, poor baby,” Kiera soothed him with a barely suppressed
chuckle. Turning onto her side, she threw her leg over his thighs and half
straddled him, her bare feet stroking Hayden’s legs through his jeans.

“Mmm, I’m a wounded wizard,” Hayden murmured thickly, his
voice husky as his arousal grew. “I need some lovin’.”

“Oh really?” Kiera laughed softly in response. Lifting her
weight onto her knees, she straddled Hayden’s waist properly and lowered her
arms to press a soft, searching kiss to his lips. They ate tenderly at each
other for a moment, lips and tongues teasing and tasting one another as they
rediscovered the pleasures of each other’s flesh.

With eager hands Kiera pulled off her T-shirt, loath to
spend even the few seconds it took to raise the material above her head
separated from Hayden’s soft lips. His hands were already unsnapping her jeans
and lowering them down over her hips to clear her thighs.

In a few short seconds Kiera was stripping her bra and
panties off her body, casting them aside carelessly as getting naked became her
only priority. She moaned decadently and her head fell back in abandon as
Hayden’s wicked fingers stroked her dripping pussy lips, seeking her clit and
rubbing it vigorously as she began to remove his jeans.

“You’ll need to ride me, baby,” Hayden insisted, his voice
so low and thick with lust she had to take a moment to understand his words. “I
don’t want to tear this shoulder any worse, but I think I might explode if I
don’t get inside you right now. I need you, sweetheart, and so you will have to
take me, hot and hard and exactly how you want.”

“I think I can live with that,” Kiera replied huskily, a
small laugh escaping as she removed his pants and circled his cock with her
small, delicate hand. Her thumb stroked smoothly around the tip of his head,
collected the pre-cum that had gathered there and leaked from his slit and
lubricated his thick shaft with his own essence.

With a slick motion she fisted his length and caressed his
shaft, pumped him in a quick, eager action that elicited a low groan from her
lover.

“I won’t last any time if you keep that up, sweetheart,”
Hayden insisted. Kiera laughed and lifted her slick cunt up above him.

“Hot and hard then?” she checked with him, wanting Hayden to
enjoy every moment just as she intended to.

“Oh yeah, baby,” he replied huskily. “Take me right now,
ride me until we both scream.”

“I’ve got all this adrenaline still coursing through me,”
Kiera insisted. “I’m not looking for tender and slow, think you can keep up?”

“I’ll beat you there,” Hayden promised.

Relieved there were both on the same page, Kiera lowered
herself carefully onto Hayden’s thick, long shaft and groaned with pleasure as
he filled her to the breaking point. Thick, ridged and of such a length he
barely fit completely inside her, Kiera panted with the effort as she finally
lodged him fully inside her pussy. They both sat there a moment, collecting
their breaths and adjusting to each other.

“You’ll beat me, eh?” Kiera finally whispered hotly as she
clenched her inner muscles, milking and massaging Hayden’s prick as she
prepared for the ride of her lifetime.

Her hands lowered to Hayden’s small brown nipples and she
toyed with him as she slowly lifted and then lowered herself along his length,
her wet, tight heat clenching around him as they came back together again.
Staring into her lover’s dark eyes, Kiera lost herself in his gaze, heavy
lidded and almost lightheaded with lack of oxygen as they fucked each other
intimately.

Slowly at first Kiera found a rhythm she enjoyed and began
to build upon it. Hayden moaned deliciously, surrendering to her and letting
her set up her own pace and take her pleasure. Since she had surrendered
everything to her lover last time, the equality of the situation tickled her
fancy and let this moment become all the more special to Kiera.

Sweat beaded across the back of her shoulders and neck as
Kiera’s heart pounded harder and faster. Her pace increased as pleasure
unfurled deep in her stomach, her climax a steadily growing power she could
feel burning in her blood.

“I love you,” she panted hard, her hands now pressing
against Hayden’s for balance as she rose and lowered her body faster and with
more pressure, her arousal building as her need became more urgent. Hayden
breathlessly repeated her sentiment though his words were by far more
incoherent.

“Hurry, love,” he panted, his face flushed with need and
strain as his cock vibrated inside her clenching cunt. Kiera could tell his
climax was near and she sat up, widening her legs as she continued to ride him.

Kiera took both her breasts in a hand each and, desperate
for the extra stimulation, squeezed each of her nipples painfully tight to
elicit the desired response.

“Stroke my clit,” she pleaded to Hayden, her breaths coming
in pants now as her own climax almost reached its peak. “Caress me hard, even
pinch it, please.”

Hayden obeyed and the sensations on her clit coupled with
the pressure on her nipples and the thick, hard cock grazing her G-spot and
penetrating her pussy sent her over the edge. Kiera’s head fell back, her dark
curls almost grazing along Hayden’s calves as her back arched in deep pleasure
as she came.

Pleasure detonated in her belly, her skin tingling hotly as
her entire body caught on fire from the intoxication of her orgasm. Crying out
with the release, Kiera’s body clamped down hard on Hayden’s and milked him
hard. Coming almost instantly himself, Hayden’s free hand went to her hip to
pull her down more roughly as he pumped hard inside her, filling her with his
hot seed as his cock erupted.

They strained together fiercely, taking and giving exactly
what they both craved. For a blissful, perfect second they were both exactly in
accord, flying together far above the earth, soaring in the sky as they came
together in tandem.

All too soon her climax ended and Kiera came crashing back
to earth, drained completely and utterly. Feeling much as if she were a balloon
with the air let out of it, she collapsed back onto Hayden’s chest, moving to
one side so as to not slam into his gunshot wound.

Hayden’s hand came to her back and held her steady so she
wouldn’t slide and fall off him all together. Kiera panted as she and Hayden both
attempted to catch their breaths. A faint headache pulsed behind her forehead
and Kiera mumbled into Hayden’s slick, slightly tangy-tasting skin.

“What was that, sweetheart?” Hayden mumbled. Kiera lifted
her head with an effort, blew a few stray curls out of her face and repeated, “Now
I really need that nap.”

He chuckled and they curved in together, wrapped in one
another’s arms comfortably.

“Sleep, love,” Hayden insisted. “I think we could both use
it, you to rejuvenate and me to heal a bit more. Let me just set the alarm.”

Kiera closed her eyes as Hayden fiddled with the clock and
then they both found comfortable spots under the covers. Seconds later they
were both asleep.

“That’s quite a story,” Kyle Revell spoke after Hayden and
Kiera had recounted most of their tale of what had occurred over the last day
and a half. Sally Erving had remained silent for the most part, merely shaking
Kiera’s hand when they had initially met and Hayden had introduced the two women.

Kyle was tall and lithe, built like a runner with spiky
blond hair and dark-blue eyes. Sally in comparison was shorter and slender,
more like a gymnast with long, straight blonde hair and pale-blue eyes. While
Kyle appeared as if he could take on the world and still have a cigarette
coolly afterward, Sally seemed almost twitchy, jumpy and not precisely stable.

Not for the first time since she had been introduced to the
witch, Kiera wondered if she was even paying attention to what Hayden spoke of,
let alone taking it all in and understanding. While Kyle had explained to Kiera
briefly that both he and Sally were Guardians, Sally’s magical talent was
actually as a Tracker. They had both gone for hard-core field training back in
the Academy and been paired up together as partners.

Even though Kyle didn’t go into details, he merely explained
they “went through so much together” they had refused to be parted afterward.
They both sat next to each other like best friends, long-term coworkers. Kiera
could not sense any sexual intimacy between them, though there was…
something
there she couldn’t put her finger on.

“What, exactly, is it you want Sal and me to do for you,
Hayden?” Kyle asked bluntly as he cut through all the talk and went right to
the heart of the matter. Hayden shrugged his good shoulder.

“It’s been a rough few months,” Hayden said with dejection.
“I’m running out of friends whom I can rely on. You have contacts, can get
information. Kiera and I can’t run and hide for the foreseeable future until this
all blows over. Can you dig around a bit? Find out what is causing this mess?
Who is instigating it? There’s a leak somewhere, but you know what the Tribunal
is like, it’s a sieve. Hell, for all we know the leak is actually in the
Enforcer’s office somewhere. But someone with a lot of clout and cash is
organizing these contracts, and we need that stopped first before we do
anything further.”

Kyle looked to Sally. Under his gaze she turned to face him
and her eyes appeared to almost come back into focus. Proving Kiera’s
assumption had been wrong, the blonde witch added her opinion. It became
evident Sally had indeed been listening to everything that had gone on around
her.

“Hayden’s our friend,” she insisted in a soft voice. “We
have to help him if we can. We should ask around, Kyle, see what we can find
for him.”

Kyle nodded, as if Sally’s seal of approval set both their
course of action.

“We’ll do what we can, Hayden,” Kyle agreed. “Though if I
feel the water is getting too hot for Sally, we pull out. No strings, no
commitment. Okay?”

Hayden cast a quick glance to Kiera and then nodded, his
gaze reverting back to Kyle’s in a man-to-man manner. It felt to Kiera almost
as if Hayden had thought about how
he
would react should there be danger
to
her
and he understood the blond wizard’s decision.

“I understand,” Hayden agreed. “Thank you, both of you, for
helping us with this. Keep us posted.”

They all exchanged handshakes, dropped bills on the table to
cover their meals and stood up. Sally put her hand on Kyle’s arm as the blond
wizard had made to follow Hayden and Kiera to the front door.

“I don’t like that door,” she insisted softly. “Let’s go out
the back. Please, Kyle.”

Kiera tilted her head, her brows furrowed. The two Mages had
entered the front door not more than an hour ago and Sally hadn’t said
anything. What could have possibly changed her mind in such a short span of
time?

Kyle didn’t appear to think twice about the odd request.
Without blinking an eye the athletic man simply said farewell to Hayden and
Kiera, turned on his heel and led Sally out through a door in the back. Kiera
could only assume it led toward the diner’s kitchen area. Presumably they would
find a way out the back door.

“Should we follow suit?” Kiera asked, confused and a bit
uneasy. Hayden shook his head, took her hand in his and continued to lead them both
toward the entrance.

“Sally is…let’s say a little broken,” Hayden continued.
“They never talk about it, but when they were both training in the Academy
something bad happened to her while she was on a mission with Kyle. It…changed
her, damaged her slightly. I’m not sure if Kyle feels responsible, or if they
had already grown so dependent upon each other neither one could leave the
other. On the other hand, maybe it’s just they simply are such an excellent
team they couldn’t bear to part company. I honestly don’t know and no one in
their right mind would question them and ask. They
are
an almost
unstoppable team once they get their teeth into something. Their one and only
cast iron rule is they will not be parted. Pretty much anything else is up for
negotiation.”

Kiera remained silent, contemplating Hayden’s explanation as
they threaded their way through the diner tables.

“Anyway,” Hayden continued as he opened the door for her,
“whatever happened it hurt something deeply within Sally. She can be a bit
weird sometimes, but she is one of the best Trackers I have ever come across,
and she’s not a bad Guardian either. Has a streak of luck you’d not believe.
She’s one of those people always seeming to be in the right place at the right
time with the right tools. She definitely carries her weight in their
partnership.”

“So you don’t know if she has Seer in her blood?” Kiera
asked, still feeling faintly restless and uneasy. She honestly didn’t know if
it was just Sally unnerving her, or just the accumulated stress and anxiety of
the last day and a half or whether her own instincts were humming over
something but she definitely felt on edge.

“Nah,” Hayden insisted with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Sally doesn’t have Seer magic, she’s just a bit twitchy and weird sometimes.
Trust me, sweetheart, I think—”

The sidewalk had only a few people milling around as they
had exited, Dan’s Diner not being in the most reputable section of the
outskirts of downtown Chicago. As they passed the small back alley next to the
diner where the delivery vans drove around the back Hayden’s words were cut off
as they found themselves both grabbed by rough hands and dragged down the small
side street.

Before Kiera could even get her feet under her she and
Hayden were shoved unceremoniously into the middle of a circle out of sight in
the alley. Within the span of a few seconds they were both suddenly surrounded
by six large, bulky wizards. Two wizards pointed guns steadily at Hayden and
Kiera, and two others whose hands were bare stretched them out menacingly,
small rings of fire and energy crackling around them threateningly.

Kiera swallowed hard and instantly decided next time Sally
made a random “twitchy” decision or her own instincts nagged at her she’d sit
up and take much closer notice of them.

“Now, little witch,” the tall, beefy, dark-skinned leader of
the pack insisted in a deceptively calm voice. “We can do this the hard way or
the easy way.”

Hayden moved protectively in front of Kiera, obviously as
his instinct and chivalric attitude dictated. Outnumbered as they were, she
lifted a hand to Hayden’s good shoulder and tried to restrain him from doing
something that would end up with her lover even more grievously harmed.

They would be burned to cinders before he could possibly
defend them from all six of their attackers and Kiera knew in a heartbeat she
did not want to live if Hayden died protecting her. She had no desire to die,
but she honestly didn’t think she could bear being in this world any longer
without her wonderful, scruffy, sexy wizard.

The ringleader had tattoos around his eye and down the side
of his face, an intricate network of vines, leaves and furled buds. Kiera had
never seen artwork like it and while pretty in a curious way it also heightened
the wizard’s appearance of threat to her simultaneously.

“You have given us quite a chase, Ms. Patrick, but as you
can see we are not a group to be easily dissuaded,” the dark-skinned wizard
insisted. “Now if you give over your memories of the grimoire, maybe I will be
a reasonable man and let you and your lover boy here go.”

“Sure,” Hayden replied mouthily. “And so when she hands over
her memories your friends there won’t shoot me or your other goons won’t blast
us both to hell, right? You’ll just pat us on the head and let us skip back
into the rainbow. Sure.”

“I make no promises to you, wizard,” the dark wizard spat
back. “You have caused nothing but trouble for my comrades. You, we are tempted
to take the bounty on. We have no quarrel with the witch, though. Our client
merely wants the ritual and has assured us the other Strategist and she—and not
you—knows it. You are worthless to us, and a thorn in our side. Be sure to keep
that in mind as you let your mouth be so unruly and troublesome.”

“I won’t even consider negotiating with you if you don’t
leave my coworker alone and vow to give Hayden safe and free passage,” Kiera
insisted firmly. Secretly, she had no intention of giving these wizards
anything, especially not what little memory she had of the ritual. Saying so,
however, would merely be a one-way ticket to crispy-burning-in-pain-and-agony
land. Having finally found Hayden, she wanted to at least fight for a life with
him.

“You are not in any position to negotiate,” the leader
insisted. “The other Strategist, your coworker, is being dealt with. You have
the option to give us your memory, or for us to take it anyway. I would not be
so stupidly bold, were I in your position.”

Kiera swallowed hard and tried to block the instant fear and
worry for Joshua that swamped her. He had Kate by his side and she had appeared
a veritable dragon of a Guardian. Kiera had to believe he would be fine or else
her mind would become too blocked with concerns she could do nothing about.

Right here, right now she could try to talk herself and
Hayden out of certain death. That was what she had to remained focused on.

“Stop thinking about Josh and me and start plotting for your
own safe passage,” Hayden muttered under his breath, soft enough only she could
hear as he turned his head back to simultaneously watch her knowingly and also
eye off the wizards behind them both. Kiera cast a quick glance at her lover,
not overly surprised he could practically read her mind.

“I am not going to leave you to these murderers, Hayden,”
Kiera hissed back equally lowly and slightly miffed.

“They aren’t fooling around,” Hayden whispered back. “And
we’re seriously outnumbered. I can draw their fire while you—”

“I won’t even respond to that ridiculous suggestion,” she
retorted huffily. “Just try to think of something that will get us
both
out of this and I promise we can have our first argument later.”

“I thought I was ordering, not arguing,” Hayden replied
wryly, but then he perked up a little. “If we’re arguing does that mean I get
make up sex afterward?”

Kiera snorted and returned her attention to the large
leader, who appeared to be quickly running out of patience. Gathering all her
courage, Kiera stood taller and faced the large man down.

“I’ll let you take the memories only
after
you let
Hayden go,” Kiera bargained. Hayden started to hiss something at her but Kiera
elbowed him in the lower back near his kidneys to quiet him. She honestly
didn’t think they could both get out of this and so she wanted her lover safe,
even if this crew did try to chase Hayden down after they had dealt with her.

If she could get Hayden a head start, maybe even stall these
thugs for a short time to give him a chance to get safely away then
perhaps…Kiera pushed the thought aside. She only wanted to focus on the next
few minutes.

“Just do it, Elijah,” growled the apparent
second-in-command, clearly at the end of his patience. The dark-skinned wizard,
Elijah, Kiera presumed, sighed. Kiera swallowed hard as Hayden snarled in
response to the killers and shifted himself slightly, pressing Kiera closer
into the protective barrier of his body.

“Fine,” Elijah spoke with resignation. “We do this the hard
way then.”

Instinctively Kiera took a step back and Hayden crouched in
front of her, almost bristling with the fierce concentration of a wizard about
to fight for his life. Kiera’s heart pounded in her chest so hard she feared
for a moment it would break through her rib cage and burst through her chest.

“Get
down!
” a voice shouted from behind them. Taken
by surprise, Kiera began to turn around but Hayden tackled her to the ground
like a pro. They both grunted as they hit the hard asphalt, but the small
sounds were muffled by the deep boom of a shotgun exploding above them both.

Kiera’s hands came up instinctively to cover her head even
as she looked up to see the black camouflage-clad legs of Sally. The slender
witch held a truly enormous shotgun in her arms, the weapon looking
frighteningly large. Fire exploded from the muzzle as Sally jerked the pump
action and blasted yet another round out of the chamber.

Kyle stood right beside Sally, his face twisted in an odd
sort of satisfied smile. The two Guardians fought as a team, completely in sync
with one another as if they had been doing precisely this for eons. Kyle’s
hands flamed a dark red-orange as fireballs grew in power and strength around
his fingers until with a sharp jolt of hot energy they shot out of his hands,
down the alley until they struck a parked car at the mouth of the entrance.

Kiera frowned, about to comment that Kyle must have missed
his target. The wizards had all ducked out of the way of flames, though a few
might have been partially singed. The car the fireball had struck exploded with
an ear-splitting
boom
, magical fire engulfing the mechanical structure
in a ball of burning glory.