Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (49 page)

“I’m sorry that you feel that way. I hoped you could heal and we could still be friends, but if looking at me with her hurts you, selling and leaving is probably the best thing.”

Desdemona took the slice to her heart without flinching. “You should go then, Callen. Head back to your girlfriend and brother. We don’t have anything more to discuss. If it’s over for you, then it’s over. I won’t guilt you or pressure you into being with me.”

“I came here because I have news about the bodies we found.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but we’ve ID’d both.”

She was completely numb from him telling her he didn’t love her, but loved Elizabeth. “
It’s my sister, isn't it?” Her eyes filled with tears and they began to spill over.

“It is, and I have more bad news. We ID’d the other body. The bones we found had been in the swamp a long time. We found your mother.”

Now Desdemona felt like she was slapped, and she stepped back. “You found my mother?” That was completely unexpected. Now Desdemona started weeping and sat on the bed sobbing.

Whitefox sat beside her, and pulled her against his body and just held her
while she wept bitterly.

“I want to see them.” She finally got it out, and looked up at him. “I need to see them.”

“Elizabeth cleared it for tomorrow. You can go over once Doctor Magnus lets you know he’s ready.”

“Why can’t I go tonight?” she
questioned.

“Desdemona, we sent your mother’s skull to FBI West to have facial reconstruction, in case the dentals weren’t found. Now we want to get her back fully for you. Nothing more
than that. We aren’t trying to keep you away; we’re just trying to make it easier.”

“Is my sister fleshy?” she asked, knowing she wouldn’t be able to handle seeing that.

“No.”

“Okay,” she leaned against him. “Please stay,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be alone.
I need you, Callen.”

Whitefox knew that was a bad idea.
What she wanted in the ways of comfort wasn’t something he was willing to offer her anymore. Sex meant more now, it was valuable and only shared with a person you loved completely.

Callen
got up from the bed and went to the door opening it for the man standing outside. “I can’t Desdemona, and we both know why. It won’t change anything between us, and I don’t cheat on the person I’m with.”

“
Of course you won’t. You got the prize you always wanted,” she sobbed, bitterly

Julian patted him on the shoulder and took his place on the bed. “It’s okay I’ll keep you company.”

Callen walked out of the room, closing the door on them and shutting out part of his past. He knew Desdemona wasn’t the right one before, but now he had confirmation. Now he needed to get some air, before going to his room alone. He was pretty sure that Elizabeth wouldn’t want him sleeping anywhere near her.

Damn it, love was a bitch.

                                *   *   *

Ethan wal
ked into their shared room and stared at his very pissed wife sitting on the bed. She’d already changed, pulled her hair up on top of her head, and was cross-legged with the papers in her lap. When he entered she didn’t even look up.

“It was all me. I told Callen we should torment you, and he didn’t think it would end the way it did.
There’s no way he could have known about the doctor pulling your certification. If you want to be pissed at someone then take it out on me. Not him.”

Elizabeth didn’t look up.

“You want to be angry; I’ll be the target on this one.” When she still ignored him, he went in for the kill. “In the car, he told me that he knew you were going to toss him out of our bed and life, because he screwed up. Right now he can’t handle your anger. I’ll own this one and take it all.”

Elizabeth felt the anger cracking and her compassion leaking through them back into her body for both of them. One
big crack was for the man who was wounded and scarred, the other one for the man who would take the responsibility for it and carry it alone.

Blackhawk stared out their window and watched his brother walk around the parking lot.

“Where is he?” she asked, finally looking up.

“Out roaming the grounds. I just saw him head into the trees.”

Elizabeth slipped on her sandals and grabbed her room key. “I’ll be back.” She left the building and started looking for the man with a damaged heart. Elizabeth crossed the parking lot, looking up at their window. Her husband pointed in the direction and she followed.

When
Elizabeth entered the grove of trees, she wandered until finding Callen skipping rocks across the water of the lily pond. Elizabeth watched him for a while, standing there and observing him. The pain he was feeling was evident.

Callen was miserable as sin. It felt like his heart was crushing, and
all he really wanted was to tell her he was sorry. Closing his eyes, it was sent out to the universe. One more chance was all Whitefox wanted.

Callen
put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his grandmother’s ring. It rolled between his fingers, and the Native stones caught the moonlight and sparkled. To keep it safe, he put it back in his pocket and stared into the water on the lake.

Then he saw a reflection beside his, and his breath caught in his throat. It was the most beautiful
angel in the world, and she was beside him.

Whitefox
turned fast, hoping it wasn’t his imagination, but actually her. When Elizabeth didn’t evaporate into the night, his heart started pounding in his chest. “Lyzee.” Just her name stole the breath from his body.

“Callen.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t know he was going to make you re-qualify or take your gun. Had I known, I wouldn’t have betrayed you. Please believe me.”

Elizabeth moved close to him and touched his arm. “It’s okay
, and I forgive you. No harm done.” She moved even closer to his body, standing inches from him.

It wasn’t lost on him
that it was the same thing Desdemona had just done, but Callen didn’t feel what he did now. He couldn’t breathe, his heart was thundering like a drum in his chest, and her scent. God, it made him want to weep.

Elizabeth saw the pain, and it hurt her that she caused it even though
he’d made her mad. She hated hurting either of them. “It’s beautiful out here in the moonlight.”

“I’ve seen more beautiful things.”
Callen had and there she stood, almost like magic.

Elizabeth stepped closer, until she was up against his body, and urging him to take the next step.
When he still didn’t move, she took control. Sliding her hands up his chest and around his neck, it was an invitation to enjoy the kiss that was being offered. Elizabeth set the pace, using everything she had to convince the man that the anger was completely gone.

Callen couldn’t possibly be more surprised.
Here the wish was made and now the most distracting angel was kissing him. He pulled her against his body, sealing her to him and returning the kiss and then some. Elizabeth fired everything in his body, and made him rock hard in seconds.

Pulling away
, he stared down into the crystal blue pools. “I love you.” What more was there to say? It meant everything, and she meant everything.

“I love you too, Cal.” Elizabeth ran her fingers across his cheek.

He took a deep breath. “I want to give you something, and I hope you accept. It feels right and think granddad would want it this way.”

She was confused. “Granddad would tell you to stop mauling me,” she said, grinning.

Whitefox reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring that he’d been given to share with the woman who would have his heart forever. Five generations of love wore this ring and it felt unforced and perfect, finally.

“I gave this to the wrong woman, and now I’m giving it back to the one that owns my heart.
The day you saved mine and Desdemona’s life in Red River, I saw it on your finger and I just knew.”

Elizabeth stared down as he took her hand in
his, slipping it on her finger to sit beside Ethan’s.

“Please wear it, and when you
see it, know that you mean the world to me. It belongs to you, as does my heart.”

She didn’t know what to think. “It’s beautiful
, Callen.”

“I
already asked Ethan. He told me to do what my gut, instinct, and heart told me to do when it came to the ring and us.”

Elizabeth figured this had her husband’s
suaveness all over it. She was going to give him a big wet kiss later to show her appreciation.

“Will you wear it for me
for the rest of your life?”

Elizabeth watched it glitter in the moonlight
, thinking back to the things Doctor Magnus said about two Native brothers marrying one woman. “I will on one condition.”

His body tensed. “Yes?”

“When we get home you put on the one that matches it too. They’re meant to be a set. Not just a single ring, and I want you to wear it.”

His heart thundered again
at what her words meant. True he couldn’t marry her, but he could still have everything but the paper. “I will.”

“Then
I’ll wear it for the rest of my life.”

Callen was elated
. Kissing her, his hands wandered gently across her bruised and battered body. What he wanted was to take her right there and then. When he deepened the kiss, she didn’t protest. As he reached down, pulling her shirt from her body in the moonlight her pale flesh glowed.

“I want you.”

Elizabeth grinned wickedly, and slid her hands up under his shirt, pulling it from his body. “Then take me,” she finally said, going back into his arms.

Whit
efox almost erupted right there. It was at her open willingness to roll around under a tree, by a pond, while on assignment with a very simple man.

He slid her shorts off her bo
dy, and they fell to the ground. Elizabeth stepped out of them, never breaking the kiss. Callen pushed further, begging for more and grateful that she was there in his arms. Yeah, nothing felt like this.

Elizabeth flicked open his jeans and pushed them down his hips. When he stepped out of them, she gasped as he scooped her up in his arms and knelt in the soft grass
, gently laying her on their clothing to protect her shoulder. Immediately, he placed his body over hers, offering everything he had in his entire being to her.

Elizabeth arched into him, as his lips began wandering down her
throat leaving a trail of intimate kisses across her flesh.

Callen never felt anything so amazing in his life. Her skin was creamy and so silky, he just couldn’t get enough of the woman beneath him. He slid lower
, removing the very sexy lace panties, and found the ultimate prize. Whitefox dove in to enjoy the way she tasted.

“Callen,” she gasped
, as his mouth did incredibly wild things to tease and torment her. The man had some excellent oral skills.

Like brother, like brother
.

He drove her to the edge
, and then pulled back to slide back up her body.

“I want to feel you explode around me.
It’s the most amazing feeling. When I’m in you, I feel like I’m home,” he whispered in her ear, and felt a rush of heat when she opened for him. He probed and found the right angle and slid deep. It was a slow silky slide into her body, and it took everything to not lose it right there.

She moaned as
Callen began moving and found the perfect pace.

“God Elizabeth, you feel so damn right,” he
whispered, working them both into a frenzy. When she was close, he watched her tumble into the abyss. Callen stopped moving just to enjoy the way her body tried to lure him over. “I don’t want this to ever stop,” he whispered, and then started moving again. He loved how she met him stroke for stroke, tipping her hips so he could have full access to her body.

“Callen,” she moaned
, as he pushed her close again, and this time she refused to fall without him. Pulling him down to her mouth she took her time making him crazy with the way she kissed him. His body shook, his breath caught, and then he felt her quake again, and this time Callen let it pull him over with her, because if felt so right. As the world spun dizzily, he laid his body protectively over hers and nuzzled her throat with his lips.

“Yeah, you’re the one,” he
spoke softly, into her ear. “My only for the rest of my life.”

Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears at his words. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” she said, running her hands down his back and shoulders and finding her initials tattooed there.

Callen pushed up off her body, and looked down into her eyes. “I mean it. There will only ever be you. No one can ever fill my heart. I’ll stay by your side for the rest of my life if you let me. The ring is my promise to you that I’ll always love you, Elizabeth.”