Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (40 page)

Whitefox found his voice next. “You were wrong Ethan. Not one mile. I’d walk twelve miles, on nail
s barefoot, on fire and carrying her while she was wearing spurs.”

Elizabeth giggled
at the visual. “Yee haw,” she muttered. The complete bliss was amazing, and she just allowed herself to slip into it and sleep.

~ Chapter Ten ~

Wednesday Morning
 

Elizabeth woke slowly to the sensation of someone lying on her hair and against her back. Her body was sore but in a good way. She now desperately needed a shower. When her eyes finally cooperated and opened, she was staring into brilliant midnight blue ones. Ethan was whipping out the famous
‘Blackhawk grin’
, and it was full of masculine smugness. Yeah, Elizabeth got it. She was a victim of lust and the debauchery that dreams were made of for both men. Normally, the smug look would make her want to retaliate, since it made her feel like a conquest, but in that moment the smile stole her breath and her heart.

“Morning baby,” he
whispered softly, kissing her gently and almost reverently. “How did you sleep?” Ethan Blackhawk was completely in love with his wife. They’d made crazy, mad love a few more times that night, and he hoped she wasn’t too sore or exhausted. Although, he felt completely energized, like some mystery fountain of energy had been tapped into that morning. He had to admit that there were no regrets from him.

“I feel like I just went to sleep
ten minutes ago.”

As if on cue,
Callen leaned over her shoulder and kissed her good morning. “Hey beautiful, how do you feel?” Slowly, he ran his lips across her shoulder, leaving a trail of kisses.

“I need coffee
desperately,” she muttered, pulling her hair from beneath him. “And a shower. I’m not sure which I need more at this point.”

“I’ll shower with you,” offered her husband, and then he winked
at his brother.

“Oh me too.”

Elizabeth started laughing. “No one is showering with me. I’m doing that completely alone. One of you is going to rush through your own shower and then get me coffee. I’m exhausted from you two sex fiends. Now I see why the two men thing is not for the weak of body, especially when it involves two Blackhawk boys. I feel like I ran a hardcore race. Some Native man marathon in which I just barely survived.”

Both men laughed.

“I’ll shower first and then get you coffee. After last night, it’s the least I can do for you,” offered Whitefox, running his fingers down her back. “I love you, Lyzee.” His heart squeezed in his chest, as he stared down at her. The pain he was feeling was starting to slide away, and he was finding peace and a reason to love life finally. The completeness overwhelmed him; it was to the point he feared he’d breakdown again.

Elizabeth heard the emotion in his voice
, and rolled over to face him. “I love you too, and thank you for last night. You and Ethan are the best two brothers I’ve ever had.” The giggles were automatic, and then she followed them up with a kiss. It was a long slow kiss that shared the love in her heart. When his body started coming awake, Elizabeth pulled away laughing. “Not happening, ace. Nice try, but move along!”

“
Sorry but it’s you,” he offered, grinning.

“
I’d like to point out that we’re the only brothers you’ve had and will ever have,” Blackhawk clarified. “Your bucket list stops right here. If you try to add anyone else, I’m taking the bucket away.” Gently he kissed her shoulder and grinned at his brother. The peace in his eyes was a welcomed sight. There was no doubt that he was on his way to healing and the path to happiness.

“Coffee. Now. Please.
Someone,” she begged, closing her eyes praying for more sleep.

Ethan grinned as his brother
winked at him.

“I’m going! My
, you’re bossy in the morning.” Whitefox gave her one last kiss on her lips, before escaping to the shower.

When he closed the bathroom door and turned on the water,
Elizabeth rolled onto her husband’s shoulder and cuddled into his body. The sigh was one of contentment.

“Are you really okay?” he asked, kissing her on the forehead.

“Physically or emotionally?” she asked, running her fingers over the raven tattooed on his chest.

“Both.”

“Emotionally I’m happy as a clam, but physically I’m beat. Are we going to do this again?” she inquired and then continued, “Because if we do, there has to be some ground rules. Like no sex past one in the morning on assignment. Not that I don’t appreciate being accosted by the two sexiest men in the universe before dawn, but a girl needs her beauty rest if she’s got suspects to kick around.”

Blackhawk snickered.
“I think I can swing that, but you need to know that this is entirely your fault. You’re just sexy and we Blackhawk men can’t resist you.”

“Great, you just blamed the victim
.” Elizabeth bit him on the arm.

He growled low in his chest and ran his hands across her body, beginning the exploration he was very familiar with and completely cherished.

“Go shower, Ethan, before I hit you. Seriously, I’ll inflict bodily harm on you if you don’t escape now. I’m a woman on the edge.”

He winked and rolled free of the bed. “Be back in a few
, baby.” Ethan stretched, reminiscing about the night as he strolled into the shower. Yes, he was tired but how many times in one’s life did you get to have the ultimate sexual experience with the most beautiful woman in the world. Life was pretty damn good and the awkward feeling he expected to feel was nowhere to be found. Nothing felt different, except that they had healed a piece of his brother’s heart and possibly made them all closer.

Who knew?

Callen stood under the scalding hot water, enjoying every damn second of it. His body was loose, and he was completely relaxed. Then he heard the bathroom door open, and looked out to see Elizabeth barely awake walking into the shower.

“Hey, you joining me
after all?” he asked, lecherously. “I thought you wanted to shower alone. Did you change your mind?”

“NO sex!” she
stated, exuberantly. “I’m too exhausted to lift my arms, so someone has to wash my hair. Get to it, Cal.”

Whitefox laughed and started
shampooing her hair. “Thank you for last night, I won’t ever forget it as long as I live. I love you both so much. I don’t have words for it.”

“No need to th
ank me, Callen. I love you and want you to be happy.” She only hoped that was the case, and he wouldn’t regret the path they’d ventured down together.

“Was this a
one-time thing?” Callen needed to know, because if it was, it would forever be locked away in his heart. This had to be the best gift he’d ever been given. The woman, who owned his love and was his best friend, shared a magnificent gift last night. Nothing in his life would ever top this experience, not because of the sex, but because now he felt what he always wanted.

Complete l
ove.

Elizabeth turned and stared up into his warm brown eyes. “Cal, if you only want this to be a one night thing, then that’s your choice. I think you know how I feel
, and that’s not going to change.”

Lowering his lips to hers, there was a sense of sheer joy to know that he wasn’t going to get a taste of love
, and then never feel it again. Right then he knew he belonged. As he deepened the kiss, his body began to come awake for the woman pressed against him.

She pulled away and looked up at him grinning.
“Stop thinking about sex, Callen! I’m three days past exhausted, and you had me enough for the day. Now I get my body back. This carnival ride is closed for the morning, because we have work to do.”

The look on her face was priceless
. “Okay, but I’m just in awe. Seriously, that was the best sex ever. When you’re in love with someone it does matter more than just in lust. Now I understand it, Lyzee.”

Yeah, love made all the difference in the world
. “Great. Say it with coffee and a smile on your face. I need caffeine and I need it soon.”

“Okay, I get it. You need caffeine
or you get cranky.”

“I need one more thing, Callen,” she whispered, and then pulled his lips
back down to hers and kissed him like she did many times last night. When she broke away, her fingers ran down his cheek. “It wasn’t just sex Cal, I hope you believe that. What happened was a hell of a lot more than just some sweaty bed romp. Us coming together mattered to me.”

Quickly, the tears filled his eyes
, and he needed to escape at her words. It was so much more than sex to him too. It was something he’d never felt or experienced before and it was everything in his life. “I’ll go get you coffee now,” he said, grabbing a towel and hurrying away.

“Bless you.”
Standing under the water, and thinking back to the night her lips curled up at the corners. Yeah, it was so much more than sex, and suspected it always would be.

Callen
dressed quickly, grabbing the key to their room before running down to get Elizabeth coffee. Out in the hall he saw the ‘do not disturb’ sign and started laughing. He could only imagine what everyone on the tech team was thinking and suddenly he didn’t care.

It was the best night in his life
, and they could gossip all they wanted. Ethan was right. Private life was off limits and theirs only.

When he’d been with Desdemona, he’d felt something
completely different than what lived in him now. During the act, he was always planning the next part of the production and never feeling what was missing. It was solely about control and nothing more.

What he felt now was beyond lust and
the act of copulation. Love and relationships should flow together easily, comfortably and without being control freaked to death. Callen realized now that he was pushing himself on Desdemona and trying to control something out of his reach. The feelings he’d had were fabricated to forget that someone else owned his heart. Making them come together to build a dream life that wasn’t real.

What was living in him now was real. There was no feeling of pressuring Elizabeth to fit into a preconceived notion of what it should feel like. They just clicked, and that was what he’d been missing. The ‘click’ wasn’t there before, and that’s why it fell apart. Callen
knew how wrong he’d been, and now he’d found peace.

Turning
around, he saw Julian leaving Desdemona’s room down the hall. There was absolutely no jealousy at the idea the man was involved in sex with his ex. Whitefox honestly hoped she found someone to give her the same feelings he’d found. Everyone deserved love and peace.

“Hey, Julian,” he
called, grinning. “How are you today?”

Julian looked at him and started laughing. “Not as good as you are, obviously.
Did you win the lottery?”

Callen ignored the question, because he most certainly had won big time.
“I’m going down for coffee. Want to join me?” he offered. “If Elizabeth doesn’t get coffee soon, someone will die a horrible, painful death.”

“Yeah, I could use some coffee myself.”

The men walked down together, heading to the dining room. As if on cue, all the tech team stared up at him when he walked in, and he didn’t understand.

Julian
whispered as he poured coffee for them. “They all saw the sign and imaginations are running rampant.” As was his, and he could only imagine why the man had a big dopey grin on his face at six in the morning. There was no doubt that the woman in the room with them had a great deal to do with it.

Callen
made three coffees and popped the lids on, before turning around. Part of him wanted to say something, but he wasn’t answering their speculative stares. Let them assume what they wanted, drawing their own conclusions, because what happened behind closed doors wasn’t their business. He felt the overwhelming need to whistle as he brought the coffee back upstairs. Arriving at the door he knocked, unable to get to the key in his pocket. It was opened by the most beautiful angel in the world, and his breath caught in his chest as emotion overwhelmed him.

“It’s official. I love you,” she said, taking the
coffee and going up on her toes to kiss him quickly. “Thank you,” she added, taking in the scent of blessed, delicious coffee.

“What’s on our schedule for today?”
inquired Whitefox, handing his brother a cup and sitting on the rumpled bed.

“We need DNA from Cordelia Adare’s room
, and then I need someone to shake the tech tree and see what comes falling out in the way of reports and evidence.”

“I’ll take the tech team.
You scare the hell out of them,” stated Blackhawk.

Elizabeth grinned. “Sold, it’s all yours.”