Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (34 page)

In his mind he heard himself rationalizing that on his first night back there should be gentleness and tenderness between them
. Then the other little voice begged and pleaded to make it sweaty and wild.

Damn! Which to listen to?

Elizabeth moaned and begged for more; giving him no choice and his mind was completely made up. Tomorrow he’d do slow, now he was going with a desperate, sweaty romp.

Digging her nails into his shoulders
and breaking the kiss, Elizabeth was moving closer to another release. She stared up into his midnight blue eyes. “Ethan,” she whispered, her heart clenching in love.

“God Lyzee,” Blackhawk muttered, feeling her tighten around him. The nails were the thing that
became his downfall. As they slid down his sweat slicked skin, his own body betrayed him to her breathy gasps and moans.

“Hurry, Ethan,” she tried holding on,
feeling her entire world rotating as her husband placed her above his body. Now she stared down into his dark eyes and saw the desperation.

“Please,” he begged as she started riding him. This had to be his favorite position in the entire world, and his wife used it to torture him.

Elizabeth gave him what he wanted. She slowed the pace and made it a ride he’d never forget.

“Damn it! Lyzee, come on!” Elizabeth was drawing it out and making him crazy.

Suddenly the motion increased and she took him recklessly, enjoying the heat building in her body as he shook desperately beneath her. Everything in her begged for release, and she stared down into his handsome face. “Ready, Cowboy?” she hissed, biting her lower lip.

“Yes,” he moaned
as he arched up into her body to get deeper into the warmth.

“Now Ethan!” and with his name, she
pulled him roughly to her mouth and swallowed his moan, as he devoured her shout. They came together as Elizabeth plundered and relished the free fall.

Blackhawk was
doomed the second she kissed him, and he exploded hotly into his wife, pulling her with him. He fell into the heat, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Slowly she slid to his side, keeping their mouths joined a little longer.
Elizabeth pulled him over the top of her, holding onto one of the men she adored more than her own life. “I love you, Ethan,” she whispered, kissing his throat, and memorizing his scent.

He
stayed protectively over her “I love you, Lyzee,” he said, kissing her gently on the lips.

“You’re going to have to tuck me in. I’m beat,” she whispered. Still neither of them moved, and now she laughed.

“Give me a second, baby. I haven’t had sex in a week, and I’m enjoying the feel of you beneath me.”

She snickered. “I think it has more to do with the beers you consumed and less to do with the time that went by since the last time we had sex.”

“You’re very astute, Lyzee,” he said, grinning smugly. “Let me get you tucked in, and I’ll go find Callen or set him free if he’s struggling with CJ.”

Elizabeth’s body was
lifted into her customary position, and she sighed when the down comforter was pulled up over her cooling flesh. “This feels really nice,” she said, yawning and letting herself drift into sleep.

Ethan took a minute to just watch his wife, as she succumbed to
exhaustion. Elizabeth meant everything in the world to him, along with his son, brother and father. He’d do anything to keep them safe, and finally his wife took an assignment that in no way related to her life. It allowed him to breathe deeply.

Dropping a kiss to her forehead, he slipped into his boxers and headed out after his brother. What the man did for him tonight wouldn’t ever be forgotten. Initially he’d always wondered if they
could cohesively become one unit, or if there’d be issues between them eventually.

So far, nothing but complete bliss.

Sure, they argued sometimes, and had disagreements about space and bed hogging, but other than that he was very happy.

Sneaking up to his son’s room, he peeked inside. His heart clenched in his chest. There sat his brother, reclining in the chair with his son resting peacefully in his arms. Again he felt love for the man that shared his life. Never once had he ever opted out of time with CJ, and he stood in as a surrogate parent when Ethan was unable
to be home.

Blackhawk got very lucky in life, and he knew it. Stepping into the room, he gently removed his son from his brother’s arms and cuddled him. His
heart flipped as his little man sucked on his fingers and soothed himself. “Daddy loves you, CJ,” he whispered, kissing him on the chubby cheek.

Placing him in his crib, he tucked his blanket around him and ran his fingers over his son’s silky hair. So far it was more like his than Elizabeth’s. It was poker straight and very
Native.

Ethan turned to wake his brother and shook his arm, taking the bottle from his hand. Callen jumped and looked around like he’d lost something, mainly his son. Blackhawk pointed towards the crib and then the door, signaling him to follow him back to bed.

Out in the hallway, he couldn’t help himself, he hugged his brother tight.

“Wow, all because I let you have sex alone tonight?” he whispered, laughing. “Well, don’t count on it happening again for a
long time.”

Ethan laughed and dropped his arm across his younger brother’s shoulders. “No, because I’m really glad you and I are brothers.”

Whitefox understood what he meant. If he never had found out who his brother was growing up, he would have missed out on a great deal in life. Callen knew the stark truth. If it weren’t for Ethan and their grandfather, he would have been dead by now.

“She fell asleep, so you’ll have to pounce tomorrow,” said Ethan. “I’m a little worried about her. Things feel off, and I don’t know why.”

He shrugged. “If there was something wrong, Lyzee would just tell us. She comes out and says just about everything.” Callen patted him on the shoulder and started stripping out of his tie and shirt. “While we were away, she was under a lot of stress holding FBI West together. Now that the ‘Three Musketeers’ are back together again, it’ll balance out.”

Ethan new his brother would let him in on anything if he suspected an issue.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I just worry about her because I can’t imagine life without her.”

“I understand,” he said, looking at his watch. “Ethan, we better get some sleep. It’s already one
in the morning, and we have work tomorrow.”

“Come on, let’s get
to bed. I really hope and pray she isn't planning on running tomorrow morning,” stated Ethan and then he paused. “Tomorrow I need to disappear for an hour and run to the jeweler and pick up her Christmas present.”

“Can you grab mine too?” asked Callen. “I was going to get it tomorrow morning before work
, and then see if Ginny would wrap it for me.”

“You cover for me and I’ll even wrap it for you myself when I do mine.”

Callen snickered. “Awesome.”

Then Ethan thought about it. “If we have to run, all bets are off. You’ll have to get your own damn gift wrapped. I’ll be too tired. Normally I like a run, but not on four hours sleep and with this much beer running through my veins.”

“Be quiet, because if she hears you, we’re going for a run just to prove how tough she is and we aren’t.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Ethan opened the door and tiptoed in, hoping they didn’t wake her.

Each man took his space beside her and wrapped themselves around her protectively.

“Night Cal,” whispered Blackhawk.

“Night Ethan.”

Then both men slipped into sleep
, enjoying the peace.

~ Chapter Ten ~

Saturday Morning

Christmas Eve

Elizabeth woke to the sound of two men snoring. It would have made her laugh, if she wasn’t so damn exhausted. Sitting up, she looked at the alarm clock on Callen’s nightstand. It read five thirty. Weighing her options, Elizabeth decided to go downstairs, put on a pot of coffee and then gear up for a run. Instead of going outside, she opted to use the treadmill in their
game room. It meant not having to put on as much running gear. Plus now she didn’t want to slip and fall, hurting herself or the baby.

Tiptoeing to her closet, she dressed in her
sweats and sneakers. A six mile run would take her an hour, and hopefully get her mind ready for the day.

As she stopped at the bed, she wondered if they’d want to join her
. Reality dawned, and Elizabeth remembered that both men had been drinking, heavily. If she was exhausted completely sober, then they would be cranky, tired and miserable tonight if she didn’t let them sleep. Tonight was the big event, when she revealed to them that she was expecting, and she wanted it to be magical.

Cranky men need not attend.

With her first pregnancy, Timothy Blackhawk dropped the bomb and surprised them both. Elizabeth didn’t get the pleasure of finding out and springing it on Ethan. Now she got to tell both men.

Stepping onto her treadmill, she plugged in her headphones and downloaded the music she was in the mood to listen to that morning. Something fast and with a hard beat.

As she started working out, Elizabeth thought about the t-shirts she ordered for the men in her family to announce the news. Then it occurred to her.

What if it caused a fight? It was inevitable that one man was going to be left out and not the father.
All she hoped was testosterone wouldn’t take over and ruin it for everyone involved. How would Ethan feel about her having their second child with another man? Granted it was his brother, but still.

Shit!

Then what about Callen? How would he feel if he didn’t get to finally be a father? Would being left out of the procreation pool hurt his heart?

Damn it to hell!

None of this was planned, but it had the potential for a big explosion. Elizabeth started to worry that there were going to be unpleasant ramifications out of the entire deal. Maybe their happy moment wouldn’t be so happy after all.

Suddenly, the pleasant run to forget about the case had only made her
ponder worse things. What if her miracle ended up costing her the family she loved more than anything?

Elizabeth
became sick to her stomach, literally, and hopped off the treadmill, racing upstairs to the bathroom. Locking the door, she purged everything in her body. This pregnancy was already running her through the ringer. It was harder to run, she could barely eat, and now she was seriously stressed.

Brushing her teeth, she stood
staring into the mirror. Placing her hand over her belly, Elizabeth whispered to her little baby. “I’ll love you no matter what,” she promised, tears filling her eyes, as fear racked her body. Sitting on the bathroom floor, Elizabeth sobbed as quietly as she could, hoping no one found her.

Right then and there
, she wanted to run upstairs and tell them both, hoping they’d still love her and their family. Yet Elizabeth knew she couldn’t. Today she needed to work and focus, and if the men were losing their minds, it would make it that much harder to handle. The dead women needed her attention.

When she cried her last tear, Elizabeth washed her face and tried to not look upset. Yeah, that wasn’t going to be easy at all. Her whole heart was scared.

“Okay, put it together, Lyzee!” Elizabeth ordered, giving herself a pep talk. “We can get through this.”

Just then
there was a screech and reality dawned that there was someone else up in the house. Peeking out the door, Elizabeth saw Wyler pouring himself coffee, as he held CJ. Her little boy played with his braid, chewing on it and pulling.

It was safe, Wyler wouldn’t rat her out to the men. “Hey,
Dad, how are you?” she inquired from behind him.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you were up,” he
replied, reaching up and getting another cup for coffee.

“Yeah, I was running on the treadmill in the basement.” Accepting the coffee,
Elizabeth inhaled in the scent, and thankfully it didn’t make her want to retch.

Small miracle there
!

“I didn’t hear CJ last night, did he get up?”
inquired the older man.

Elizabeth nodded. “Callen took care of him, and he was only up that one time.” She went to her little man, giving him kisses and love. “Let
Mommy go shower, and then we’ll wake up Daddy and Uncle Callen.”

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Wyler finally asked, noticing her eyes were red.

Elizabeth sighed. “I will be after tonight, maybe.” The she shook her head. “I’ll explain to everyone by tomorrow at the latest. Just don’t tell Callen and Ethan. Please?” she
begged.

He kissed her on the forehead. “I won’t tell them, but if you need me to hold a secret for you, Elizabeth. I will. You’re as much my child as the boys are, and I love you exactly the same.”