Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series) (16 page)

“We need to talk,” I said, flopping down, after I has washed my face and brushed my teeth.

“You know men absolutely hate to be told that,” John said, smiling at me sideways from his position on the massive bed. “But what would you like to talk about?”

“Something Sasha said that bothered me,” I told him. I stood up and took off my beautiful new clothes, carefully hanging the outfit over the back of a chair. I searched for my clean tee-shirt and pulled it over my head. I flopped back down next to him.

“And that was?” he asked.

“She said our relationship was quick,” I said. “
Our
relationship. You and me. It bothered me because it’s true. Is that bad?” I asked.

“Just because it happened fast doesn’t mean it isn’t real,” John said. “For me, how fast it happened helped me know it
was
real. I knew the moment you walked up to me in the Treasure Chest. I felt like someone sledgehammered me in the gut.” He laughed. “I haven’t been the same since.”

Hearing that gave me chills — fun, sexy chills, but also the willies. Because it was exactly like that for me. “The same thing happened to me,” I said, looking up at him. “The moment I saw your face, it was like everything else went out of focus. The center of gravity changed for me.”

He kissed the top of my head. “Nothing has been as important as you from that moment on. I understand your sister’s concerns, though,” John said. “People who fall in love really fast aren’t usually falling in love — they’re just hot for each other, right? Then they try each other on for a while, and once they get to actually know each other, they don’t like what they find. That kind of heat burns out fast.

“With you and me,” he continued, “I’m a lot older than you. You were innocent. You
are
innocent, pure. I could see how she’d be concerned. She might think I’m taking advantage of you, and that you haven’t had enough experience to separate out your thoughts from your feelings.” He paused for a second. “But I happen to think that would be underestimating you. And in my experience, that’s a bad move.”

We sat there quietly for a little while. Then he kissed me lightly, over and over, mesmerizing me. “I knew from the second we were together, from the first time you touched me,” he said, pulling back and tenderly stroking the inside of my arm, looking down at the marks his crazy daughter had put on me. “And when we had our first conversation…it was like you woke up something inside of me that I thought was gone a long time ago. I hadn’t realized how
dead
I’d become. I was like a cardboard cut-out of a man.”

“In a nice suit,” I said, smiling down at our now-entwined hands.

“Yes, I have great suits.” He smiled at me. “You brought me back, babe. From that first week — even when I scared you off with the glasses and the backpack — my new life started. Every waking moment since, I’ve been thinking of you. So yes, your sister was right: it was quick. But when I found you, I realized you were the thing I’d been missing for so long. So when you find the person you’ve been looking for your whole life — especially if you’re older, like me — you want the rest of your life to start immediately.”

I leaned up and kissed him, deeply. Heat was building in me, my need for him, coupled with how wonderful it felt to be secure in his love. “Well, I
am
younger than you, but I feel exactly the same way,” I said. “I feel like any time apart from you is wasted. And I don’t want to waste any more time.

“And I’ve thought about it…I’m okay with one last mission,” I said, in between kisses. “As long as you promise.”

John pulled back from me and raised his right hand. “Liberty Davis, I promise that Darius will be my last assignment as a bounty hunter. Once we bring him to justice and tie up the loose ends, I will quit the business, get some sort of a desk job, and start working on a beer gut.”

“Okay — except for the beer gut,” I said, running my hands down his chest and abdomen. It was rock hard and chiseled, and I was
very
fond of it. I felt myself start to feel rowdy but I tried to ignore it. I had business to take care of. “But I’m coming with you.”

John sat back, looking at me seriously. “What?”

“You heard me,” I said, sitting up straight. “You’re not going without me. And as much as I’m scared of guns and getting beat up and blown up, and all sorts of other things, I’m more afraid to be away from you.”

“I can’t have you in that kind of danger,” John said, shaking his head. “I just got you back. Liberty, I can’t handle having you hurt. You’re so thin right now, so vulnerable. I need to protect you. I need to keep you safe. I can’t have any more people I love being hurt. My conscience can’t take it.”

He looked at me pleadingly. “Do you understand?”

“Of course I do,” I said. “But that’s my condition: you go, I go. Otherwise, it’s not happening.”

He blew out a long breath. “No,” he said.

“Fine,” I said, shrugging. “You said yourself you don’t want to be apart from me. Let Darius continue to tear it up in Brazil or wherever he is these days. Not my problem.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t do this to me, babe. I just got you back, I just got Catherine back. I need to work on keeping my family safe.”

I understood him perfectly, and I knew he was right. I was not fit for bounty-hunting in Brazil, and I would hold him back. I would make it more dangerous for everyone, John included. But I was not budging. We were together from here on out. I couldn’t stand anything else.

I had to show him some tough love.
“My condition is final for me. I won’t change my mind.” He cringed and I felt bad for him, just not bad enough to change my mind. “You said yourself I had a choice,” I said. “Well, I made one. The right one. You feel its necessary to finish this case. I feel it’s necessary for us to stay together.”

“So that’s it?” John asked, looking at me finally.

“That’s it,” I said, defiantly.

“Fine,” John said. “I know you well enough to know how stubborn you are.” He grimaced. “This particular choice puts you in danger, which is unacceptable, but at least you’ll have me by your side to keep you safe.”

I pulled him into my arms. “Thank you,” I said. “I just can’t say goodbye to you again. My heart can’t take it.”

“I understand the feeling,” John said, and kissed me on the top of my head. He squeezed me with his powerful arms, sending simultaneous chills and heat hurtling through my body.

“But I have a condition, too,” he said. I pulled back and looked at him suspiciously. “Training,” he said, and smiled an evil smile. “Lots and lots of training.”

Noooooooo.
I’d been through this with him before. At the time, I’d secretly wondered if he was trying to kill me. “Don’t you think I’m too thin for that?” I asked, hoping for sympathy.

“That’s what Stop N Go Burgers are for,” John said. He was starting to look a little excited. I was starting to feel a little afraid. “I’ll call Ian and make sure he has everything stocked for us. I’m going to put you on a high protein diet. Protein shakes, lots of lean red meats, legumes…”

What the fuck is a legume?
I wondered, crawling under the covers. He started rattling off all sorts of food I’d never heard of, and then he started talking about strength training and hot yoga. I flopped onto my stomach, put a pillow over my head and desperately tried to tune him out. The feeling of victory I’d had only moments before was fading, replaced by a fear of squats, plank poses and running mile after mile.

“Babe,” John said, after a while.

I was still hiding under the pillow. “Are you done?” I asked.

“Are you up for it?” he asked. His voice was husky now. I felt something familiar, hard and extraordinarily welcome pressing up against my backside.

“Some of it,” I said, lifting up my ass and pressing his hardness against it.

“I need you ready for all of it,” he said. He poked the tip of his penis into me, through my underwear, and I writhed back against him. He started to thrust in and out me, just his tip, like that, and I moaned. I got up on all fours and he grabbed my underwear and pushed them quickly to the side. Before I knew what he was doing he had leaned down and put his mouth on me from behind, licking and sucking on my clitoris.

“Oh. My. God,” I said, writhing against him, trying not to climax.
Not yet.
I had to have him inside me. “Put it in me. Please,” I whimpered, suddenly overwhelmed with need. He pulled back and I felt him kneel behind me. He rubbed his huge, rock-hard cock up and down against me, getting it slick with wetness. He was making me crazy I threw back my head and groaned; he gathered my hair and wound it around his hand, tugging it gently, pulling me back onto him and moving against me rhythmically. He entered me slowly, tantalizingly, inch by throbbing inch.

He waited for a minute and the world swirled around me. And then he slowly thrust in and out of of me, deeper and deeper, gently pulling my hair like a rein, pulling me back against him as he pulsed into me. He pumped into me again and again, pushing me towards the edge. I heard myself scream as I climaxed all around him, exploding, shattering. He started to come then, too, pounding up against me so hard I could feel his balls and shooting all of himself into me, hot and glorious, filling me.

“I love you,” he said as he gave one final thrust and then collapsed on me, totally spent.

“I love you, too,” I said.

“Liberty,” John said, nudging me gently. “Honey, wake up. Sasha just texted you.” He put his phone into my hand.

I squinted at it. “Leaving now. Luv u. Pls call me soon. xo <3”

“What does that mean?” I asked groggily, shoving the phone back at John.

“Hugs and kisses. And the thing with the three? Could be a heart. Matthew always insists it looks like a ball sack, though,” he said and laughed. “I think it means that Sasha loves you and wants to talk to you soon.”

“Can I see that?” I asked. I sent her a quick text back, wishing her safe travels and telling her that I loved her. I sighed and rolled over, looking at John. His thick brown hair was tousled luxuriously; it reminded me of last night and I blushed.

“Don’t blush at me, Liberty,” he said. “It makes me want you. Again. And we don’t have time to indulge my wants right now.”

I grumpily packed up; I was really enjoying the hotel room. They were waiting for us in the van. Catherine was still wearing the tee shirt; now the hot pink smiley face was rumpled, giving it a warped, slightly sinister appearance.

Catherine glared at me. Maybe that’s why the word “sinister” had popped into my head. “What,” I mumbled to her, turning red under her stare.

“We had a deal,” she hissed, as soon as I’d slid in next to Ethan, Corey and Matthew. Sean was driving again and John was sitting up front, planning our route.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I said. “My sister was here last night. I didn’t have time. We’ll stop somewhere today, I promise.” I wasn’t sure why I was trying to placate her — if it was for my self-preservation, or if I was trying to make her happy so John would be happy.

“I doubt there’s a Neiman Marcus on the highway,” she said.

Mathew turned around towards her. “It’s a tee shirt,” he said. “You don’t like it? We’ll get you a new one.” He turned back around, facing forward. “From Walmart,” he said under his breath.

I fell forward with silent giggles and he was doing the same thing next to me, his hand over his mouth. He started coughing so he wouldn’t laugh. I shot a look back over my shoulder at Catherine but she was studiously ignoring us, staring out the back window again. I looked back at Matthew and we started laughing again, without emitting a sound.

John would
so
not approve.

We calmed down — quickly, so we didn’t get in trouble. “What’s the plan? We’re gonna go straight through, right?” Matthew asked.

“Yep,” Sean said. “We can take turns. It’s 17 hours.”

“Boss, what’re we doing when we get back?” Matthew asked.

John shrugged. “We’re gonna take a couple of days off,” he said. “Go home and see your family. Then we’re going to start training, hard, and get ready for Brazil.”

“Cool,” Matthew said. “I
love
training.” He smiled at me mischievously. “Will you be joining us?” he asked. “You’re
such
a natural athlete.”

“Ha ha,” I said. “Yes, I’ll be there. With bells on,” I said, under my breath.

“What was the furthest we ran, last time? Ten miles?” Matthew asked, still smiling at me. “We’re gonna do better than —”

But his words were cut off because the back window burst, an explosion of glass hurtling into the van, thousands of shards spraying into the back.

“GET DOWN!” John screamed at me, jumping into the back and pushing me further down on the seat, down to the floor. Matthew crouched beside me, his gun already out. Catherine had curled herself into as much of a ball as she could with her one hand cuffed to the wall and was still shielding herself as John went to her. “Catherine?” he asked, desperately, reaching her. “Catherine?”

She peeked briefly out from under her arms at him. “I told you,” she said, and she sounded almost calm. I could see some blood on her hands, but she didn’t seem hurt.