Gage Read online

  “No deal,” Gage assured Nicole.

  Lynette mumbled an agreement. She’d had enough from all the vipers involved, or potentially involved, in this. “If you don’t mind, Gage and I will decline your help.”

  “Fine,” Nicole snapped. But she didn’t budge. Her red-lacquered mouth tightened into a fine line.

  “If there’s nothing else...” Gage prompted. He nudged Lynette to get moving.

  “Wait!” Nicole called out.

  Lynette and Gage did, but it took several seconds for Nicole to continue. “About a year ago, Ford had a tracking device put on your car. When you went to San Antonio to see that doctor, it only took Ford about an hour to bribe him into telling him what you were up to.”

  Lynette cursed the fear that coiled through her, and then she cursed that her father had violated every moment of her privacy. She didn’t want him having even a thought of her precious baby in his monstrous mind.

  “Ford didn’t think you’d go through with the insemination,” Nicole added. “He thought you’d realize how much he hates Gage and do the right thing.”

  Lynette met her eye to eye. “I did the right thing.” And since she was as tired of the fear as she was this conversation, she turned again to go to the apartment.

  “Ford brought that drug dealer here,” Nicole called out.

  That stopped Lynette, only because it stopped Gage. Lynette wondered if Nicole was aware that Patrick had made the same accusation.

  “What do you know about Dalvetti?” Gage pressed.

  Nicole drew in a weary breath. “I know Ford would do anything to get you out of Lynette’s life.”

  Gage lifted his shoulder. “Hard to do that now that she’s carrying my baby.”

  Now, Nicole swallowed hard. Maybe faked. Maybe real. She also glanced away from them. “Ford has no intentions of letting this baby arrive into the world.”

  The rage that went through her was instant. Gage tried to catch on to her, but Lynette scrambled over the reception counter. She latched on to Nicole and slammed her against the glass door.

  Lynette tried to speak, to yell, scream, anything, but the words couldn’t make it through her clamped throat. How dare her father threaten her child.

  Gage eased her away from Nicole, but then he got in the woman’s face. “Tell Ford I’ll deal with him soon.”

  The fury in Gage’s voice was nothing compared to the look he shot Nicole. The woman gave a shaky nod and hurried out the door.

  Lynette stood there, watching Nicole scurry away.

  Oh, God.

  She could feel the showdown coming. And Lynette prayed that Gage wouldn’t die trying to protect their child.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gage glanced around the apartment above the sheriff’s office to see if he’d done everything to make it as safe as possible.

  He’d pulled down the blinds. No lights were on. The door was locked. He had two guns, a rifle, and the windows were rigged with security sensors that would alert them if anyone tried to break in. He had a cell phone, walkie-talkie and a landline phone.

  Of course, the best security measures were downstairs.

  Mason, Dade, Nate, Kade and Bree.

  The Rylands were on duty. Or as Mason always liked to say “justice isn’t just coming—it’s already here.” Gage was counting heavily on that to get them through this night.

  Gage glanced around the apartment again. Double-checking. He couldn’t see anything that needed correction. Now, all that was left was to make Lynette get some rest. That might not be easy since she was watching him like a hawk. No doubt worried that he’d go off half-cocked to confront her father about the threat he’d made to the baby.

  And he would confront Ford.

  Gage just wouldn’t do it half-cocked though.

  No, it was best to do these things with a cool head. Hopefully, he could choke down his anger and do that. But Gage was actually looking forward to beating some sense into Ford even if there would be consequences to pay for that.

  “You didn’t eat much,” Lynette told him.

  She was seated on the sofa finishing off one of the sandwiches Nate had brought. Gage had had to play dirty again when she’d at first said she wasn’t hungry. He’d asked her to eat for the baby’s sake.

  And she had.

  Not just the sandwich but some milk and an apple. He made a mental note to use that trick again if necessary.

  “I’ll eat more later,” he promised. But right now, he felt like a wet gym bag, and this might be the only lull he got to wash off some of the grime from the earlier attack. He took his grandfather’s Colt from the back waist of his jeans and put it on the countertop of the makeshift kitchen. “I need to grab a shower.”

  Gage hadn’t tossed that out there without thinking it through. He knew it couldn’t be just a shower. Because there was no way he would leave Lynette in the room alone. Of course, he could get one of his brothers to sit with her, but he preferred them doing guard duty downstairs so that all the windows and doors were covered.

  “You’ll have to come in the bathroom with me while I shower,” he said.

  She stood, slowly, and even in the dim light he saw her turn toward him. Also slowly. She was staring at him. He could feel it.

  And he could also feel the air drain right out of the room.

  “Are you keeping on your clothes for that?” she asked.

  He gave her a scowl that she couldn’t see, but she no doubt knew it was there. “No,” he mumbled. “And that should make things interesting, huh?”

  “Not if I can’t see you,” she mumbled back.

  Oh, yeah. This was going to be torture. But necessary. When he told her the part about his going after her father, Gage would want to pull her into his arms. To steady her, and to steady himself. He didn’t want her keeling over from the smell of gunshot residue, sweat and mud.

  Even if a shower could lead to things best left alone.

  He walked ahead of her into the tiny bathroom. Since there was only one small window, it was even darker than the main room, and Gage intended for it to stay that way. He didn’t want to risk that someone could use the lights to target them with a long-range rifle. And he had firsthand knowledge that Dalvetti liked to arm his goons with rifles.

  The rocket launcher had been a surprise though.

  Gage hadn’t heard of the man using one before. Maybe that had been Ford’s little contribution to the assault. But Ford, Dalvetti or his men hopefully wouldn’t get close enough to the sheriff’s office to use a weapon like that. That’s because Mason had set up barricades that blocked off streets on all sides. Plus, one of Kade’s coworkers and Kade were on the roof with sniper rifles. If Dalvetti tried to get near the place, he’d be stopped. For good.

  “Stay put,” he warned Lynette when she was in the doorway of the bathroom. “I’ll hurry.”

  He stripped down, fully aware that she didn’t take her attention off him. Heck, he would have done the same if she’d been the one going bare. In fact, maybe he could reverse it when he was done. Seeing Lynette naked would make him feel a whole lot better.

  For a few seconds anyway.

  And then that good feeling would lead to sex. As much as Gage wanted that—and he wanted it bad—he wasn’t sure she needed him inside her while she was going through all this emotional turmoil.

  “You got a tattoo,” Lynette commented. She sank down onto the floor, her back against the closed door.

  Obviously, the room wasn’t as dark as he thought.

  “Yeah.” A heart with a dagger through it on his right shoulder. “I was pretty mad about that annulment I thought you got.”

  She laughed, and the sound rippled through him.

  Gage mentally cursed, threw back the shower curtain and turned the water on as hot as it would go. He probably should have chosen cold, but he was already sure he was fighting a losing battle here.

  He took his time, lathered up twice, rinsed and rerinsed, hoping that exhaustio
n would cause Lynette to fall asleep—something both the baby and she needed. He needed it for them, too, so it would give him one less thing to worry about. But when Gage turned off the water and opened the curtain back up, Lynette wasn’t asleep.

  She was staring at him.

  Correction: she was waiting for him.

  Gage knew her well enough to know the difference.

  He waited, too, hoping that sanity and common sense would kick in.

  Nope, they didn’t.

  He had the willpower of a termite on wood when it came to Lynette.

  “You’re sure you’re up for this?” he clarified.

  “I’m not the one who needs to be up.” And she chuckled again.

  Gage groaned.

  Yes, this would be a special kind of sweet torture.

  He grabbed a towel, dried his face and stepped from the tub. The two-second debate he intended to have with himself didn’t even last that long. A split second, tops.

  “Let’s just go for it,” she whispered, “and we’ll work out the rest later.”

  There was no way he could refuse that, especially since he’d already reached the same conclusion. “Deal,” he agreed.

  Dripping wet and already burning for her, he hooked the towel around the back of her neck, dropped down and pulled her to him. Everything happened fast. Like a train wreck.

  Like a fantasy.

  His mouth took hers, and the thoughts in his head, and the doubts, turned to ash.

  “Gage,” she whispered.

  That got through the ash, and he realized that his name coming from her lips was what he wanted most.

  Well, one of the things he wanted anyway.

  He amped up the kiss, letting himself savor the taste of her. Man, he’d missed her. His body had been with other women—something he’d keep to himself—but in his mind, he’d only ever made love to Lynette. Even when he hated her, or believed he did, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of her.

  And now, he didn’t have to think.

  He was with her again.

  Good thing, too, because she dropped some kisses on his neck that created more ash in his brain. She didn’t stop there. Lynette coiled her warm arms around him and pulled him closer until she was pressed against him and it was impossible to tell where her body ended and his began.

  The kiss got hotter and hungrier in a hurry.

  Lynette and he could never just keep things simple.

  They kissed until they finally had to break for air or suffocate. They gasped for breath and then went right back at each other. A kissing battle, raging. But as he could have predicted, kisses only made his body want more.

  He did more.

  Gage slid his hand up her top and touched her breasts. She was perfect. Small and soft. He got the reaction he wanted— She made a breathy moan and climbed into his lap with her sex aligned right against his. It was good. Old memories slammed with new ones that they were about to make.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  He needed her naked, and he needed to be inside her. Gage stripped off her top. Her bra. And kissed her the way he wanted to kiss her.

  She made another breathy moan.

  And she did some touching of her own. Her hand dallied on his chest, pecking at the coils of hair there, but then she moved downward. To his stomach.

  Oh, man.

  He’d forgotten that she knew all his hot spots. Those all-knowing fingers went down his stomach and to pay-dirt territory. She wrapped her fingers around his erection.

  That sped things up. After he got his eyes uncrossed, that is.

  Gage considered taking her into the other room and to the bed, but he doubted they’d make it there. Since they were already on the floor, that’d have to do.

  Lynette had the same idea because without breaking the kiss, she started to lower herself onto the floor.

  “No deal. The floor’s hard and cold,” he reminded her. “It’ll leave tile marks on your butt.”

  She chuckled, but there was a nervous edge to it. “Then figure out something fast.”

  He did.

  Gage turned her, putting her back against the door again, and he yanked off those loose sweatpants and panties so her butt was on the rug, not the tile.

  Naked, finally.

  There were no more obstacles. He fastened her legs around his waist and lifted her back onto his lap.

  Gage kept kissing her and wanted to apologize for the short foreplay, but it was clear she didn’t want foreplay any more than he did. She drew back her hand, and Gage pushed into her.

  His head exploded.

  Thank goodness other parts of him didn’t do the same.

  But it was a challenge. She was made for him. Made to send jolts of pleasure through every inch of him. Maybe Lynette felt the same about him, because she stilled for a moment.

  He heard a sound he didn’t want to hear.

  And he froze. “You’re crying?”

  “Good crying,” she assured him. “I’ve missed you more... Well, just more.”

  Gage held his breath, waiting.

  “I’ll respect you in the morning,” she added.

  He might have smiled at her joke if she didn’t start moving, her hips pushing forward to take him deeper inside her. Gage tried to keep things gentle. He caught on to her hips, to set the pace and slow things down.

  That didn’t work, either.

  Her mouth came to his, and she smothered him with one of those scalding-hot French kisses. Slow down went out the window. Taking her was all that mattered now. Finishing this.

  Finishing her.

  Gage slid his hand between their bodies, to add some touches to the now frantic strokes. It wouldn’t take much. He knew as much about her hot buttons as she knew about his. That’s why she took that kiss to his neck.

  Yeah.

  More pay dirt.

  Gage felt his vision blur but kept touching her. Even when she shattered around him, he touched her.

  He kissed her.

  Lynette’s mouth was on his when he gathered her into his arms. And Gage let himself fall fast and hard.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Other than the bad timing, Lynette had no regrets about having sex with Gage. She’d waited a long time to be back in his arms, and she would deal with the regrets later.

  Especially one.

  She didn’t want Gage to feel trapped in the life she had created for herself. A life with a baby. There probably weren’t any CIA assignments nearby in Silver Creek, which meant, well, he could feel trapped.

  Of course, she didn’t want him trapped in her backup plan, either. That’s what the condo in Dallas was all about. She’d already created a fake identity and arranged for a job there so she could keep her pregnancy and baby from her father. With that cat now out of the proverbial bag, she wasn’t sure where she should go. Or what she should do. But she didn’t want Gage caught up in this unless it was what he wanted with all his heart and soul.

  She’d seen no signs of that.

  Yes, he wanted her. Her body. Even the baby. But she wasn’t sure he’d gotten past what had happened all those years ago. She certainly wasn’t sure he loved her.

  Later, once she’d caught her breath and he’d caught his, she’d give him an out. And she had to brace herself in case he jumped at the chance to take it. Ten years was a long time, and she might not know this Gage as well as she’d known the kid who had proposed to her all those years ago.

  Gage scooped her up off the floor, and with them both stark naked, he walked into the main room and deposited her on the bed. But not before giving her one of those mind-numbing kisses to make her head fuzzy again and her body hot.

  “Don’t get dressed yet,” she whispered when he started back toward the bathroom where he’d left his clothes. Hers, too.

  “My brothers will be here soon,” he reminded her. “I need to go over the security plans with them and make sure every inch of the place is protected.”

  All
that was necessary, but it would also be a reunion, the first time they’d been together in years. Lynette figured they had some catching up to do.

  “Give me a minute.” And she pulled him onto the bed with her.

  Yes. That was her body’s first reaction. She’d just had Gage, literally, but holding him naked like this was almost as good as the sex.

  Almost.

  She ran her hands over his chest and to his back, where those corded muscles responded to her touch. And then her hands went lower.

  “Playing?” he teased.

  “Remembering,” she countered.

  She put her face against the curve of his neck and took in his musky male scent. Oh, mercy. It was the best kind of memory. That scent had her numb, and just like that she was ready for him all over again.

  Gage did some playing of his own. He pushed her hair aside, his fingers lingering on her face.

  “You should come with a warning label,” he said, repeating what she’d told him earlier. “Dangerous curves ahead.”

  She laughed, and it felt so good to be in this moment with Gage. But the moment couldn’t last. Both knew it. And that’s why he kissed her again.

  “When this is over, we’ll talk,” he assured her. He didn’t elaborate or even mention the subject. Didn’t have to. He wanted to have an us talk, and she needed to have an out talk. She feared both.

  “Maybe we’ll even do more of this,” Gage added.

  More of this sounded perfect and made Lynette want to delay the talk for months and months because it might lead to Gage leaving again.

  “My brothers,” he reminded her, and he left her to get his clothes. “You stay put, though. I want you and the baby to get some rest.”

  She needed rest. There was no denying that, but she had no intentions of being naked in bed when his brothers stopped by to see him.

  “Bring me back my bra,” she reminded him. She didn’t want her ring to fall out and get lost.

  “Bra detail,” he joked. “My favorite.”

  Lynette gave a weary sigh, got up, as well, and in the murky light she located the overnight bag that Darcy had packed for her. Even though she couldn’t actually see the jeans, top and underwear, she put them on and welcomed the clean clothes.