Kissing Fire (32 page)

“Avery, they have controlled my life for years. I
have to see an end to it. I have to know.”

“I told you from the start I wanted no part of
this.”

“I know, and this is the final part.”

Still weeping so hard that I trembled, I said, “If
you walk out that door, don’t come back.”

His eyes widened to a point I almost thought they’d
roll out of his head.

“Please. You can’t mean that.”

“I do. We talked about this Preston. I can’t be a
part of this. I can’t sanction this. If you go, you go on your own.
Without me in your life. You choose. Me or them.”

“Avery. That’s not fair.”

I swiped my face with my hands, trying to get some
of the tears off. “And this is?” I pointed to myself. “I almost
died because of those bastards. We almost died. And now you’re
choosing to go back. If you go, you go alone, without me.”

We stood there and stared at each other for an
eternity. And then I turned away, not waiting for him to tell me
what I knew he’d already decided. Then his strong arms came around
me from behind, pulling me against his chest.

“I lost you once and I won't lose
you again. I won’t go. But I have to go to Pete and be with him for
the course of the mission. Can you handle that?”

“Where?”

“EPIC.”

“For how long?”

He turned me around so he could look at me.

“I don’t know Avery. I’m hoping not long. I’m hoping
they’ll get in, take care of business and get out.”

I grabbed his shirt in both of my fists. “You
promise me Preston that’s all you’re going to do. You promise me
right now you’re only going to EPIC because I swear to God if
anything happens to you...”

He kissed me then. Not tenderly, but possessively,
bruising my lips with his as he invaded my mouth. When we both
found we needed oxygen, he broke away and whispered against my
mouth, “I swear to you and nothing’s gonna happen to me. I’ll stay
right there and when it’s over, I’ll be back here. I promise.”

We kissed again but in the end, he
made the decision that I would go with him. He pulled out his phone
and made the call to Pete, telling him he was out of the mission,
but coming to EPIC and bringing me along. He didn’t want to leave
me alone, even with the security detail.

We left the next morning for El Paso. “What if the
mission fails?” I asked him on the plane.

“It won’t,” he answered as he reached for my
hand.

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because we’re dealing with the CIA and the U.S.
Military. Failure won’t be an option.”

Chapter 30

Preston

EPIC...when I left there a month ago, I thought I
wouldn’t be back for a while. Life threw another one of its curve
balls at me. I was getting damn tired of them too.

Avery was nervous. I tried to assure her everything
would be fine, but her body wouldn’t let her believe it. Neither
would her mind. Getting shot did a number on her. Hell, it did a
number on me too.

We made it through the first two levels of security,
but we needed Pete to clear Avery for the last. They didn’t want to
allow her in the situation room. I was adamant about her being
there. When I made up my mind about something, I was as thickheaded
as they came. Pete finally had to intervene to get her clearance,
but he did. The DEA had run an in-depth background check on the
whole Middleton family back when Terri was going into the witness
protection program and then again when she married Justin. So
getting Avery cleared wasn’t much of an issue. There was no way in
hell I would leave her alone while all this was going down, and
Pete knew it.

Pete had organized a team of thirty. They were a
talented combination of CIA hit men and U.S. Special Forces. They
hit the main compound of the Juarez Cartel in the middle of the
night, taking down the entire organization, from top to bottom.
They also dismantled the operations and pulled all their data from
computers and hard drives that they could carry. It would give us
information on all their connections all over the world. After
tonight, the Juarez Cartel would no longer be a threat to me or
Avery. All my information would be wiped clean from every piece of
data they had, giving me the freedom to live my life in peace. Not
only that, I would be able to live without fear of Avery being in
danger. My mother and sister would no longer have to live in fear
either. I sat back and closed my eyes as years of anguish rolled
over me. These fuckers had destroyed so much of my life, the
liberation I thought I would feel was laced in so much sadness, it
was just bittersweet. My breath came out in ragged gasps as I
struggled to hold back my emotions.

“You don’t have to do that you know,” I heard her
soft voice next to my ear. “You can let it go. We’re alone
now.”

Her hands and arms were around me as I shuddered
with the assault of my emotions. I’d never grieved when my father
was killed and I’d never grieved for my sister when she went
through her dreadful nightmare. And my mother...I can’t even think
about what she endured. I grieved for it all in Avery’s arms. When
I was spent, I raised my head and wondered aloud, “How did I ever
think I could go in there? I would’ve been a total fuck up. And I
wouldn’t have had your shoulder to cry on. Christ. This shit just
doesn’t end, does it?”

“I think it just did, Preston.”

“Avery, are you even sure you want to be with a
fucked up...”

“Stop it. We’ve been over this and it’s a worn out
discussion Preston.”

“But look at me.”

“I am. What’s your point?”

“I’m a mess. I’m supposed to be the strong one.”

“You are. How many people do you know could’ve gone
through what you’ve been through and made it out alive? You don’t
give yourself any credit. I don’t even want to talk about this. You
need to be happy it’s over.”

“I am. I am happy. Now I don’t have to worry about
you, or Caroline or my mother.”

“Precisely. So, when can we leave?”

I huffed out a laugh. “Eager, huh?”

“Yeah. I’d like to go to the cabin for a couple of
weeks.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Oh yeah!”

She gave me one of those looks that she probably
shouldn’t have, considering where we were, because the temperature
in the room seemed to increase by twenty or so degrees. I think I
even broke out into a sweat. Then she started purring as
Avery-kitty returned. I had to lock the door for a while. We even
knocked a few chairs over as that conference table was put to good
use. Unfortunately, I forgot that the room had an audio recorder in
it. Lucky for us, Pete turned the damn thing off. Good thing he
turned the video off too.

We left the next day and flew to Bozeman. We stayed
at the cabin for exactly two weeks before we went back to Vail.
Avery was right all along. I’d thought I’d wanted to sell that
place, because of the last time I’d been there. But she said when
we went back, she was going to change my mind, and she certainly
did. She did some things to me there that I never thought I’d ever
let her do...much less enjoy. I had been so wrong. When I made that
promise to her that I’d try, I didn’t know that I could let myself
go like I did.

We were lying in front of the fireplace and she made
her move. It was quite sudden and I hadn’t expected it. So when her
mouth wrapped around me, I initially froze. But then, her hand
reached for mine and held onto it tightly, passing her strength and
love to me in that one small gesture. It made me forget everything
except her and our love for each other. I was soon lost in her
mouth, her lips, her tongue as it swirled, sucked and worked its
magic on the sensitive areas of me. She slid my entire length into
her mouth as she held me at the base, and moved up and down, in and
out. It wasn’t long before I could feel my climax nearing.

“Avery, I’m going to come.”

I heard her purr in response.

“Tell me that’s okay. Please, tell me baby.”

She stopped, lifted her head, smiled and said, “Oh
Preston, it’s beyond, okay. It would be awesome if you would
come.”

Ah fuck!

That was all I needed to hear and I didn’t fall, I
shot off into orbit, groaning, as I called her name. It was really
something to watch her, how she had done that to me, but what was
even more amazing was that she enjoyed the hell out of it.

The aftermath was even more spectacular. Avery
didn’t just stop. Avery-kitty came out and did her licking thing.
She began where she started, licking every last inch of me and then
moved up to my abs, taking care to pay close attention to each of
my tats. Skipping up to my chest, she straddled me and really got
into my nipple rings, going after them like they were catnip.
Finally, when she reached my mouth, I wrapped my hands in her hair
and stopped her.

“You’re amazing. Have I told you that lately?”

“Not today,” she breathed.

“Then I’ve been remiss. No worries though, because I
plan to show you instead.” And I did. All night long.

The last thing I would ever do was sell that cabin
now. It was our special place, where we would come to get away from
everything, when we needed time alone to just be together. It was
where it all began for us, where we were joined, where we fell
apart and where we put ourselves back together. The cabin would
always be there for us, waiting with open arms.

Epilogue...Vail Two Months
Later

Avery

It was late March and there were only a few weeks
left until the ski season would end. Preston and I had just
finished up skiing for the day. It was the perfect spring day with
bright blue skies and warm yet great snow on the slopes. We’d
decided a chilly beer was in order, so we’d headed over to Tres
Chicas and were sitting out on the sunny deck, enjoying the
view.

“How do you do it honey?”

“Do what?” I asked, puzzled.

“Move the way you do up there?”

“I just do. Remember, I’ve been doing it most of my
life.”

He gave me one of his sexy grins that always managed
to send shivers down my spine. “I wanna ski just like you.”

“Okay. I think you can. You’re really good.”

“I think you’re just saying that.”

“I am not.”

“You are too.” He winked at me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this huge flash
of neon green, but before I could register what it was, it had
crashed into Preston, threw him down and had him on the ground.

Then I heard, “I’ve got him for you! I’ve got him
for you.”

Jumping up, trying to save Preston, I landed on neon
green’s back and started pounding on it, yelling, “Let him go! Let
him go!”

A crowd began to form around us, clearing the table
and chairs out of the way. I was still beating on neon green’s
back, screaming at the top of my lungs. Preston was swinging his
arms and scissoring his legs, but neon green’s massive size had my
vision blocked. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on,
until I saw this giant wad of pink fuzz poking me in the face.

“Melissa! Melissa, is that you?” I screamed.

“Who else do you think would come to your rescue and
put this asshole in a chokehold?”

“Stop it right this instant! He isn’t an asshole. I
love him and let him go right now or I’m gonna disown you as my
friend.”

That got her attention.

“What?” she asked as she let Preston go.

“You heard me. What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m saving you from this jackass, that’s what.”

“Oh for the love of God. He’s not a jackass. Would
you let him up?”

Melissa released her hold on Preston and stood up
and I got my first full look at her. Sure enough, she was wearing a
neon green jacket and matching pants, but she had changed her hair
color again. This time it was bright pink but she’d added a couple
of bright purple streaks in it. It was still as fuzzy as the last
time I’d seen her so evidently she was still getting her perms. I
was speechless. So much so that I’d totally forgotten about poor
Preston, lying on the ground.

“Well, aren’t you at least going to say hello?”

I looked at her and then gave my head a slap. Not
one, but two. It came to me then that Preston was still on the
ground. I yelped and turned to find him struggling to get his
senses back.

“Shit Melissa! What the hell did you do to him?”

“I put him in a chokehold, like I told you I
would.”

“Fuck!” Turning to Preston, I said, “Preston, honey,
are you all right?”

He looked so out of it, I was getting really
worried. “Maybe we need to call an ambulance.”

“Huh uh,” he finally said. “Give me a second. She
cut off my oxygen and I almost lost consciousness.”

I turned back to Melissa and punched her. “Damn you
Melissa. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I thought I was saving you.”

“Did I look like I needed saving?”

“Well, come on Ava, you never really used good
judgment. So how was I to know?”

“Ugh, that’s so not fair.”

“What do you mean? Remember Little Dickie? I had to
save you then!”

“Yeah, but if you remember, he was trying to rape me
Melissa!”

I was tearing my hair out by this time. The
management had shown up and wanted to know if I wanted to press
charges. Preston was now sitting in a chair, rubbing his neck and
head. My head hurt too, but I wanted to strangle Melissa. I told
the management no but to bring us some Lemon Drop Shooters instead.
I had a feeling I was going to need plenty of them to get through
this. Fuck!

“Why the hell didn’t you even tell me you were
coming?”

Melissa looked at me like I’d grown an extra head.
“Well, duh! I wanted to surprise you.”