Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (52 page)

Blackhawk leaned back on the couch, crossing his leg over his knee. “A part of him knows that this is very wrong. Right now, he’s going through an internal battle with himself, trying to figure out what to do. He’s going to want to stop, but not know how to do it.”

She crossed her arms. “Here’s a clue. Just stop.”

Blackhawk grinned. “For people who aren’t insane, that’s easy. He’ can’t, and we just don’t know why yet. We’ll figure it out.”

He hoped.

“Why the organs?” Elizabeth asked. “I don’t understand this part, and maybe it’s because I’ve been out of the field for a while, but what the hell is he doing with them?”

“They definitely mean something.”

“Like?” she asked, pushing for answers. Normally, she’d take it easy on Ethan, but she was frustrated. “I need something, handsome. Give me anything.”

“Baby, if I could, I would. I don’t know what he’s doing with them. This is a gray area. He could be saving them as souvenirs, eating them, or using them in ritual. For all I know, he’s cozying up to some dead girl’s spleen right now.”

From the tone in his voice, they could tell he was equally frustrated.

“The only thing I know for sure is that there will be a definitive reason behind it. He’s not going to all this trouble for shits and giggles.”

She closed her eyes. “Okay, now that we lost five frat boys, give me a new profile of this killer.”

“He’s going to be white.”

She wrote it down.

“He’s going to be older.”

Over her shoulder, she stared at him. “How old?”

He did the math in his head. “I’m going to venture between thirty and fifty. Our killer is stealthy, and he’s planning and plotting. He’s not going to take risks, and he’s going to think fast on his feet. That to me screams older.”

She made notes.

“Okay, that helps. I can start eliminating some people. Are we sure it’s a man?”

“Semen says it is.”

She stared at the board.

“All we can do is start from scratch and begin researching everyone who pulled a flag on this.”

Ethan made a suggestion, “We should run your buddy Sheriff Rakin and his deputies. There was that older one who puked in autopsy. He was very into God and crosses.”

“We can do that,” she stated. Elizabeth knew that Ethan had a bee in his bonnet over the sheriff, and it was best let go. It was rare that he’d be this irritated.

It was clearly on his face.

“Too bad we lost our paperwork monkey,” stated Elizabeth.

“We still have Callen,” Ethan reminded her.

“Hey! I feel cheap and used. All you want me for is my research skills. I’m not feeling the love.”

She was amused.

Ethan thought about it. “How about Agent Madden? While she’s sitting in that hospital room, she could do some research. It might alleviate some of her nerves and boredom.”

Elizabeth agreed. “She can sit in bed and search the people we give her.”

Callen spoke up, “When I was interviewing Sutton, he mentioned there were other frat boys who once played this game. Maybe we don’t have someone targeting the frat house, but instead, it’s someone who once lived there.”

It was a decent angle.

“She can run anyone we came in contact with while here. There are a few people who could be part of this,” Elizabeth stated.

“Since we’re discussing those two, what exactly are we going to do when they get back to FBI West?” Ethan asked.

Elizabeth knew it would be hard, but they couldn’t be hypocrites. “Look at us. We’re a couple and married. If anything, we should let them be a couple, as long as they keep it quiet.”

“The FBI has rules,” Ethan stated.

Yeah, someone was cranky tonight. Whether it was because they were back at square one, or the stress, Ethan was not in a good mood.

“And those rules are bendable and up to us. We can scare them into behaving. It’s like I do with you two brutes.”

Callen snorted, finding that funny.

Ethan didn't.

Yikes.

Ethan’s cheek was twitching, and that was never a good sign.

“We should give them a shot,” she said.

Finally, Blackhawk gave in. “That’s fine, but if they get married, they have to report to us. We can’t BS the HR department.”

“I agree.”

He was just about to add more rules to the agreement, when Elizabeth’s phone rang.

“It’s the hospital,” she said, answering the call. As she listened, her eyes remained firmly locked with Ethan’s.

She was worried about him.

“Okay, I’ll be right there to handle it,” she stated. After hanging up, she stood.

“What?” Ethan asked.

“It seems that the night charge nurse didn't get my request to leave them in the same room. When she found them in bed together, albeit completely harmless, she threatened to have security carry Johanna to a different room. We have a standoff.”

“And you’re going there because…?”

“Our agent threatened to kick the woman’s ass, and then break them both out of that ‘backwoods, hickville, death prison’. Those are her words, not mine.”

It was like kindergarten.

“So, I’m going to go fix it,” she said.

Ethan stopped her. “I’ll go. I need some time to think,” he stated. When he got up to head for his keys and shoes, Elizabeth simply watched him.

“Be safe,” she said, as he closed the door behind him.

Callen pulled her into the crook of his arm. “He’s okay. When he’s this frustrated with a profile, he beats himself up over it.”

She knew he was right, but still…it sucked.

“Callen,” she said, wanting to cry.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, angel. I’m here. I know it scares you,” he stated.

“I just picture him slipping back into that mess, and it twists me into one hell of a knot.”

He left kisses across her collarbone. “Want me to untie you?” he asked, finding her earlobe. When he teased it with his tongue, her body went lax beneath his mouth.

“Please,” she said, desperate to stop thinking. If Callen wanted to help her get lost, she would be more than happy to take that little trip.

It wasn’t that long ago that he’d done it pretty much all of the time, trying to help her through it.

“I love you,” she said, as he pulled her into his lap. Immediately, she straddled his hips and stared down into his chocolate-y brown eyes.

“Oh, angel, I love you too. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank the universe for you.”

Slowly, she brought her mouth down to his. As lips met, the heat spread through their bodies. Callen held onto her, refusing to set her lips free. While he wouldn’t mind taking her in some sweaty romp, he knew that Elizabeth needed this.

She had to find peace.

As her fingers moved to his chest, locating the buttons on his shirt, Callen didn't even move. He loved the way she gingerly traced his skin as each button was opened and his tan flesh was revealed.

Tongues mated as two people remained pressed together. It was the most amazing feeling in the world as he just drifted in the ride. When Elizabeth had his shirt open, he could feel her fingers on his belt buckle.

In his head, he was begging her to never stop. Then she pulled free from the tangling of tongues.

“Lyzee,” he whispered, so lost in the woman in his lap. She could seduce him with a simple look.

“I want you,” she said, slipping off his body. When she knelt in front of him, her heart began pounding in her chest.

This man mattered so damn much.

With Callen in her life, he brought her joy and laughter. Without him, she wouldn’t be able to survive. He made the little pockets of fear and sadness fall away.

He healed.

He protected.

He made her happy.

“Oh, Elizabeth,” he said, as her fingers pulled him free of his boxers. With gentle strokes, she ran them up and down his erection.

“I love touching you, Cal.”

Oh, he loved her touching him too.

“Yes, angel! Just like that,” he stated when she began licking him from base to tip.

She loved to hear the passion and need in his voice. While Ethan was a controlled explosion, Callen was a wild, hot storm.

Now she was going to get lost in him.

She couldn’t wait.

Taking him in her mouth, Elizabeth used her teeth and tongue to work him into the madness. She could hear his breathing getting heavier and harder, and she knew he was being driven wild.

As he shook beneath her fingers, she stopped.

“My life is complete with you.”

Her words touched him. There was a time in his life where he wondered where he fit in. Now, he knew.

He belonged with them.

“Let me touch you, Elizabeth,” he said, staring with eyes so filled with need. “I need to have my woman.”

Taking that as her cue, she stood before him. With teasing motions, Elizabeth knew what would rile Callen up. She started with her shirt, freeing herself from the buttons. It hung around her, showing all she had to offer.

Callen admired her.

Here she had given them precious little lives, and that was a miracle to the men who loved her. Without this beacon, they both would have different existences.

Callen would still be lost, wandering the world looking for a place to belong. Now he found his home in her heart.

When her fingers went to her jeans, he watched in eager anticipation. He wanted nothing more than to get lost in this moment with the woman who owned his heart.

“Hurry,” he whispered, as she tugged them down her hips. When she stood there in the sexy panties and bra, his heart thumped.

“Where do you want me?” she asked, offering herself up to a man who gave her so much, whether he knew it or not.

“I want you in my lap, Lyzee. I need to kiss and touch you until we both break apart.”

Nothing sounded better than that.

She couldn’t wait to feel herself in his arms.

When he sat forward, he hooked his fingers in the sides of her panties to pull them down.

“You won’t need them,” he said wickedly. “Trust me. They’ll just get destroyed.”

He fought the need to be rough, wanting to give her gentleness. There were worry lines on her face, and he hated to see her stressed.

“Yes, Callen James,” she offered, taking his now outstretched hand.

When he tugged her into his lap, she went willingly.

“This is perfect,” he offered, bringing her mouth to his in a steamy kiss. While he was still in his jeans, he could feel her rubbing against him—silky smooth woman was touching rock hard man.

It was maddening.

Then she slid him home.

Callen moaned, caught off guard by the act. He’d expected to be teased a little more. So, instead of letting her move, ending it too fast, he kissed her.

The mating of mouths was just that. There was plundering, stroking, and taking. He left no part of her untasted, and he was dying for more.

“Oh, Callen,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

She didn't have to say any more.

He understood.

There was magic there and together, they shared it.

When he couldn’t take the way her body was tightening down on his anymore, he set her hips free.

“Ride, beautiful. Bring us home.”

Her fingers knotted in the longer strands of his silky brown hair as she tugged his mouth back to hers. Here was one of her sexy Indian braves. They moved together in a slow mating dance. Elizabeth slid up and down his erection as he held on for dear life.

It was hard.

He was hard.

When he was shaking beneath her movements, he struggled to find a place to go in his mind to hang on. His hands wandered up her torso, caressing toned flesh. When he cupped her breasts, flicking his thumbs over the peaked nipples, she trembled.

“Fall for me,” he said, pulling his mouth from hers.

As he leaned back on the couch, he watched the woman who owned his soul ride him.

She slipped him home.

Set him free.

Devoured him once more.

Then she shattered apart.

The look of rapture was so amazing that it caused Callen to give up. He let himself tumble with her, as they rode out the hot waves of pleasure on the couch.

The room spun.

As Elizabeth rested her head on Callen’s shoulder, he could feel the soft breath against his neck. He simply held her in his arms.

Some time passed before Callen realized that she’d lost the battle with staying awake.

She was gone.

“Angel, are you asleep?” he asked, softly stroking her back.

She mumbled something inaudible.