Chapter 26
She let her head fall back but kept her gaze on his. “Do we have time?” she whispered.
He smiled as he followed her down, his nose rubbing gently against hers. “Hawk won’t come in unless I give the signal.”
Her smile widened. “So does he already know?”
“He suspects.”
She kissed the corner of his mouth. And then his chin. Her hands gently ran through his hair, almost massaging his scalp. When her fingers stroked the inside of his collar, she whispered, “You are wearing too many clothes.”
He stared down at her. She placed her finger across his lips. “Do not ask me if I’m serious or if I’m sure or give me a second chance in any way. I’m sure what I want is you.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. A kiss of promise, a kiss of passion, a kiss of so much more. She pulled her head back, pushed him up, and said firmly, “Clothes off now.”
He gave a bark of laughter, hopped to his feet, and, while she watched, he stripped. Her blood heated as every inch of his skin showed up. He was a wonderful animal. He bore the scars of his past life and scratches from one of the birds. But he was muscle from top to bottom—toned, slim, lean, tanned. When he walked around the bed to her side, his erection standing at attention, she threw back the covers, shifting over to make room for him.
He stopped and shook his head. “Now you’re wearing too many clothes.”
She gave a shy smile and got to her knees. She lifted the heavy nightgown up over her head. She handed it to him. He tossed it to the side with his clothes. And they just stared at each other.
In a low voice she apologized, “I’ve got a little more flesh on me but not a lot. I’m sorry.”
He tilted her chin up. She could feel the heat across the distance. “I wanted you when I first saw you,” he whispered. “I could only hope you would heal and survive the torment that had been done to you. I’d never have touched you if it wasn’t what you wanted. And even now I’m scared of hurting you,” he admitted.
She smiled, lay back down on the bed, and opened her arms. “So maybe go a little easy the first time,” she whispered. “And, if all goes well, we can to do it all over again.”
He lay down on the bed beside her and gathered her in his arms. As if taking her at her word, he set about exploring and tasting every inch of her. Long slender strokes down her breasts, across her ribs, and over her flat stomach. She had healed so beautifully in such a short time. He knew her shoulder was still sore. But he kissed her gently on the scar, his fingers tangling in the bandage on her back. He shook his head, gently soothing with his tongue her sore muscles and tissues, only to slip down to a soft, small, plump breast, taking the nipple into his mouth and suckling it.
She cried out softly at the pulsation starting so deep and so low. He moved to the other one, licking the tip before taking it too in his mouth. She lay on her back, wondering at the joy coursing through her. Sensations rippled and poured as he soothed and stroked. She hadn’t expected to find anyone willing to help her. But to find a savior who also might be willing to love her was a gift she’d never hoped to receive in this lifetime.
She’d always found comfort with her feathered friends, not understanding or connecting in any meaningful way with those of her own species. She’d had several relationships. Always looking for that same thing she had had with Hadrid. And never finding it.
When he slid his fingers over her hips, along her thighs, and down her knees, she shivered. Instantly he raised his head to look at her. “Are you cold?”
She tugged him down for a soul-searing kiss. When he lifted his head, his breathing raspy and hard, she whispered, “No. I’m empty, lonely. I need you.”
She slid her arms around his neck and tugged him on top of her. Instantly the heat of his body surrounded her, filling her with his warmth, his heat, and his passion. Lord, she wanted him. As he stoked her fires, she released her own inner inhibitions and explored his beautiful body as he’d explored hers. When she grasped his erection in her hand, her fingers sliding gently over the sensitive tip, he groaned and rolled to his back, accepting everything she wanted to do.
He was such a miracle. She leaned down and kissed the tip, the soft smooth surface like velvet against her tongue. He caught his breath deep in his throat, his fingers grasping the sheets beside them. She stroked up and down, sliding to gently cup the two globes that fit perfectly in her hand.
“You’re so magnificent,” she whispered.
That startled a laugh out of him.
“No, I mean it,” she protested. She slid her hand back up and down, her fingers measuring, closing, squeezing gently as she explored the lower half of his body, her hands running down the inside of his thighs and calves, back up behind his knees, hearing him laugh as she caught a ticklish spot. She grinned and then sighed happily. When she sat up and stretched her knee over him, he reached out to help her.
Settling into position, she slowly lowered herself onto his shaft. She felt her body stretch past the point of comfort until she relaxed, her body accepting him, as if knowing how very well matched they truly were. When she finally settled deep against his thighs, resting for a moment to catch her breath at the sensation of being filled right to the heart of her, his groan was long and harsh. She watched the shudder ripple up and down his body.
And she realized just how much restraint he had placed on himself. She leaned forward, her hands going to his shoulders, and whispered, “I always did love a midnight ride.”
His eyes opened, and their gazes locked. Slowly she started to ride, her hips rising, lowering, almost coming off on the next movement, and then slamming down again. Faster and faster she rode, arching her back, closing her eyes, and tilting her face to the ceiling. Her body and mind were one as she drove them both to the edge. She could feel the tension inside him, his fingers gripping her hips, slamming her down harder, faster, deeper, and the spring inside her uncoiled, sending nerve endings alive and screaming with joy outward. She shuddered, a long cry escaping. He roared, and his hips met hers, his hands holding her sealed against him, as his body shuddered and spewed deep inside her. She collapsed atop him, shaky, tired and overwhelmed by the moment. He pulled the covers back up and over her.
“I was supposed to do the work,” he whispered.
Answering was almost beyond her. “And I should’ve let you,” she whispered. “Because I think I’m too tired for more.”
“Sleep,” he whispered. “Sleep.”
Her fingers gently stroked his cheek, her thumb crossing his bottom lip, and she whispered, “Now I think I can.” And she let herself cross into the abyss that awaited her.
*
Eagle waited for her to fall asleep. When he heard her deep rhythmical breathing, he slid out from under the covers, quickly dressed, opened one of the windows for fresh air, and checked his watch. He still had an hour before he was to change places with Hawk who kept watch outside.
So much was unknown to them right now. Eagle imagined Hawk moved through the area, checking it out.
That box had been hidden in the far back corner behind other boxes. Had no one been through that linen closet in all these years? How bizarre was that? He heard a board creak outside in the hall. He froze and then slid over to the door, his ear pressed against the side. With a tiny scratching sound at the doorknob, he responded by opening it. Hawk stood there. He had a hot coffee in his hand.
Eagle glanced at Hawk, then at the coffee. “Is that for me?”
“It’s your turn to stay outside. I figured this would help.” He thrust it into his hand. “Heard a lot of talk downstairs. The whispers are starting. The rumor is that it’s Issa. I had a beer in the far corner. They seemed to forget I was there. Until I got up and walked through the room—then there was silence. I’ll go catch four hours.” Hawk tilted his head. “Good night.”
He turned and disappeared into his room. Eagle sat back down again and thought about all the things they knew. He still awaited the appraisal on the jewelry. He checked in with both Gray and his assistant, Tony. The young kid answered the phone on the first ring. He updated Eagle on the birds. They’d been given yet another raptor, which Tony put into isolation and fed, but his wing might be damaged. Gray would take a look.
Eagle’s heart slammed back home. It was where he should be, looking after the birds. They were his responsibility. Hopefully he and Issa would be done here in another day. But he suspected it would be at least two more before they could return. “We’ll be home soon.”
He hung up and called Gray. There was no answer. He left a voice message and hung up. Then he sent a text to the appraiser looking into the jewelry.
When his phone rang again, it was his appraiser. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten into. That jewelry is very rare. It was stolen from a private collection. It belonged to an aristocrat who was well known for his screenplays and mad, crazy, love affairs with young girls. The robbery happened about twenty years ago. And the jewelry was never found, the robbers never caught.”
“Ah. I am pretty sure I know where the jewelry is, but I don’t know who’ll get blamed for the robbery.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Eagle filled him in without telling him where the jewelry was.
“Everything’s over in Ireland? You need to contact the local police to take it from there. This is huge.”
“I’ll contact you as soon as I know more.”
“I can give you twenty-four hours, but that’s it. This is a pretty major case you’re talking about.”
“Do you want the jewelry only, or do you want the people who stole it caught?” Eagle asked.
“Okay, twenty-four hours and I’ll touch base again. But this is fascinating,” the appraiser said. “It’s a well-known unsolved case, so recovering anything will be big news.”
“Did other items go missing at the same time?”
“I think smaller pieces of jewelry and gold coins as well as a bunch of artwork,” he said. “It was assumed everything had been moved through England and dispersed into private collections around the world from there.”
Eagle agreed. But he didn’t want to give away too much information. After he hung up, he grabbed a notebook and started jotting down information. He texted Charlie for his brother’s contact information. It was important to bring in law enforcement at this point. But he’d rather have someone he trusted to deal with. This was a hell of a puzzle that still didn’t explain why Issa had been initially kidnapped. After all she was just six at the time this all went down. And her only part of her family’s smuggling operation was to be one of its three lookouts, not counting Hadrid. Without finding her mother’s boxes, Issa wouldn’t know as much as she did now.
So what would the kidnappers want from Issa? And that was the part that really needed to be solved. She had to be safe while they figured this out and caught the kidnappers.
The only thing that was important to him was Issa.
*
Stefan woke gently. For that he was grateful. So often he was jerked from his sleep by a vision, by a need, by his own disturbed thoughts. But this time he woke to see the sun peeking over the hills on the far side, sending a warm golden ray across his window.
He smiled and settled deeper into the covers. If he didn’t have to get up right now, there was no way he would. He’d lost a lot of sleep lately. Plus he was feeding the birds energy, helping them to find food and travel, definitely leaving him more sleep-deprived and low on energy. There had to be an easier way. He couldn’t see the owl; he only knew it was there. And so was Roash. But something odd was going on between them.
He got a vision of Roash directing a mouse toward Humbug. He didn’t know if Humbug was sick or too injured, but he refused to eat it. Roash cried, his call haunting and pained.
And Humbug’s small chirps were almost the antithesis of what they should be. But he managed to fly a little farther. Roash kept close, helping Humbug, urging him. But every step, every take off, every landing required energy.
Stefan and Tabitha were both pouring love and healing energy into the two birds. Stefan could read Issa’s energy pouring into them as well. Yet it was different looking—an unconscious connection she’d set up to function as needed but then didn’t need to be active in the process. Stefan was completely blindsided by the fact that this owl occupied his mind and his energy. And in Issa’s ability to take care of these animals on a spirit level that he’d never seen before.
But it was Humbug himself that blew Stefan away.
He still couldn’t quite believe it. As he lay here, he heard a soft, gentle, almost cooing sound against his cheek. He stilled and waited. A soft feather brushed his cheek, followed by a small rustle on his shoulder.
And then the sensation was gone. He lay here for a long moment, a sappy smile on his face, wondering what his role in all of this was. And then it hit him. Maybe he wasn’t just here to find the bad guys. Maybe he wasn’t just here to save his friends. Maybe it was a reaffirmation that all animals deserved to live.
And that he had friends, way more than he knew, in way more species than he’d ever thought. It was an incredible lesson brought about by an unexpected source.
“Thanks, Humbug.” He smiled, closed his eyes, and whispered, “If that’s what this is all about, I’m good with that.”
And he fell back asleep.