Reckless Abandon (Phantom Protector Book 1) (14 page)

He slid his tongue around her nipple then he
nipped. “I’m not like most men, Jamie. We have a lot of ground to cover before
I’m letting you up from this bed.” He nipped again. “Besides, you can heal me,
right?”

 
She
grinned and let herself really feel for the first time in her life. He might
think that she was healing him, but it was really him healing her. “All night
long.”

Chapter
13

Max woke up after only a few hours of sleep. He’d
lost count of how many times he’d made love to Jamie throughout the night. She
was snuggled up against his chest in a restful sleep. Her chest rose and fell
in a steady rhythm. He was without words for the first time in his life. He
gazed down to her closed eyes, amazed by the woman sleeping next to him. Each
hardship she’d faced had only made her stronger. He felt a weight lift from his
chest. His heart grew with pride that she’d picked him to share herself with.
He felt the brick of ice protecting his heart start to melt He inhaled sharply,
straining to breathe as he reminded himself that their lovemaking would be just
like she’d said. “Just here and now.”

He calmed at the memory. He slid from beneath
her arms and into the cold of the room. He walked to the window and pulled back
the curtains; the darkness still concealing everything in its sight. He let the
curtain fall and glanced over at the clock. The red numbers mocked him; it was
only three in the morning. Dawn would be upon them in another two hours. He walked
into the bathroom and went about getting ready for the long day ahead of him. Returning
fifteen minutes later to her side of the bed; he sat down and he rested his
palm on her waist. He pressed a tender kiss to her lips and whispered, “Jamie,
I’m sorry, baby, but it’s time to get up.”

She groaned.

He kissed her on her neck, only this time not
removing his lips from her skin. He felt more than saw when she woke up. She
leaned into his touch. “What time is it?”

“Three a.m. If you want to take a quick shower
while I’m gone you better hurry.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Where are you going?”

He placed his palm against her cheek. “I’ve got
to go get our SUV or Jonah will kill me.”

She sat up. The sheet slid down her body as she
reached for the light on the bedside table and clicked it on. His gaze moved to
her exposed flesh. He lifted a finger and traced his bite mark. His words came out
in a whisper. “I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”

She chuckled, and he lifted his gaze to her
face. She cupped his cheek. “You didn’t hurt me, Max.” Her cheeks turned a
slight shade of pink that he’d never seen before. “It turned me on.”

He pressed his lips to the mark, and then he
rose from the bed. “If you keep telling me things like that, we may never
leave.”

He backed away from the bed and grabbed the keycard
from the table. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes. We need to be on the road by
three thirty.” He stopped with his hand on the door and turned to her. “Thank
you.”

Her brows drew together. “For what?”

He grinned. “Last night.”

He pulled the door open and left.

****

Jamie watched Max leave the room and wondered if
he knew that he took her heart with him. She’d wanted a roll in the hay with
the sexy guy and got more than she’d bargained for. She remembered the exact
moment last night when she’d realized he was more than a quick release of
tension. The man had been true to his word and stuck by her side while she
dealt with the facts of her past. He hadn’t been repealed by who her father
turned out to be. Her heart broke.

She’d wanted to make things better for him or at
least give him a night to ease his pain, and it seemed as though it had worked
against her. She’d let herself become involved at a time in her life that held
uncertainty.

Jamie slid from the bed and made quick use of
the shower. She brushed her teeth and had everything packed by the time Max had
returned.

“Did you get it?”

His grin gave her the answer before he did.
“Yep.” He glanced around the room. “Are you ready?”

She nodded and grabbed her backpack off the bed
as she rose. He grabbed his bag and hers and held the door open for her. She
lifted the trunk from the floor and glanced back one more time into the empty
room at the rumpled bed and knew that she’d never forget the time they’d
shared. She turned and raised her chin and let the door close behind her. She
pushed the button to the lobby. They made quick work of getting into the SUV
and out on the open road, still cloaked under the cover of the moon. The cool
air nipped at her skin, reminding her of the quick approach of the upcoming battle.

The roads were empty as she glanced in the
passenger side mirror, taking one last look at the town that she’d called home
while growing up. She said a mental goodbye as the town disappeared out of
sight.

Jamie’s heart skipped with trepidation at what
she’d learned on their mission, trying to figure out a way to explain
everything once they returned.

“Why so quiet?” Max asked.

“I’m just thinking.”

He nodded once. “It’s a lot to take in.”

He had no idea. It wasn’t just her mother and
father and sister she’d been thinking about…her mind had wandered to Max.
“Yeah, not sure how I’m going to explain this to everyone.”

He reached over and entwined his fingers with
hers. “I’ll help you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the
inside of her palm.

She leaned back into the softness of the leather
seats and smiled before turning back to watch the passing trees. She twisted
the watch on her wrist. “How do you do it?”

He glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"You've obviously experienced pain. How do
you keep looking forward and not back?"

He thought for a brief moment. "One day at
a time."

"Sounds easier said than done." She
returned her gaze to the window.

They drove straight through, only stopping long
enough to fill up on gas, eat, and take bathroom breaks. She was tired, and if
she had to guess, he was too. A million butterflies pelted away at her stomach
and intensified as they drove closer back to where she considered home. He
pulled into an empty space in front of the compound doors and killed the
ignition.

“What do you want to do first?”

Jamie chewed on the inside of her cheek. She
wanted to see her sister but had no clue how she was going to explain what
she’d found out about their mother. She knew they’d have left that portion out
of why they’d whisked Sarah away. “Debrief the general.”

He nodded and pushed the SUV door open. “You got
it.”

They pulled their bags and trunk of treasures
from the SUV, swiped their card, and walked back into the Intel room as if
they’d just left yesterday. In the three days she’d been gone, her whole life
had turned upside down.

Max handed her the trunk. “I’m going to go put
these away and gather the troops. I’ll meet you back in the conference room in
ten minutes. Don’t start explaining without me.”

The intel room was a bustle of energy. Lydia spotted
her immediately and walked over to her, linked arms with Jamie, and led her to
the empty conference room. She closed the door behind them. Jamie put the trunk
on the table and stood with her hand on the box.

“How did it go?” Lydia asked, pulling Jamie from her
thoughts.

Jamie shrugged. “I’ve got more answers than I
had when I left.”

Lydia
patted
her arm. “I’m here if you ever need to talk.” She walked around the conference
room and over to the coffee pot. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Look on
the bright side.” She held up her arms. “I’m not wearing a sweater, so we’re
not in danger yet. We still have time to figure everything out.”

Jamie chuckled. “I hope you’re right.”

The door pushed open. The general walked in,
followed by his second-in-command, Ridge Connor. Lydia’s fiancé, Rick Thompson,
walked in behind him. Moments later Brody and Max strolled in. Brody came to
her side and gave her a bear-hug, lifting her off the ground.

“Welcome back.” He kissed her cheek. “I missed
you.”

Max stood with his arms crossed. “Put her down,
Connors.”

“The silent giant isn’t so silent anymore. You’ll
have to fill me in on how you managed to get the big brute to talk.” Jamie
tried to hide the blush she knew rose to her cheek. Brody lifted his brows
twice and grinned at Jamie before he let her feet touch the ground. He rounded
the table and pulled out a seat next to his twin, and propped his feet up on
the conference table. “Another one bites the dust.”

Everyone except Jamie sat at the table. Their
gaze set on Jamie and the box in front of her. She ran her hand against the
design.

“Don’t keep us in suspense, Bloom. What’s in the
box?” Brody asked as he let his feet drop to the floor and leaned forward in
his seat.

Jamie took a deep breath and left the table to
pace the room. “Thanks to Max…”

Brody’s grin got bigger. “Max is it now? No
longer Briggs?”

Ridge elbowed his brother in the arm. “My
apologies, Jamie. My brother can be an ass sometimes.”

She rested her palms on the seat in front of
her. “Only sometimes?”

Ridge shrugged.

She started pacing again. “Thanks to
Briggs
”—She paused to glare at Brody— “and
the letter my mother left me, we found the information to pinpoint who my
mother is…was.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “And as most of you know,
we also found out I have a sister.” She looked toward the door. “Who I’m sure
is tucked away somewhere in the compound.”

The general nodded. “Nice kid. Jonah’s kept her
busy. It appears she has a knack for electronics.”

Jamie stopped pacing at his words. It dawned on
her that she didn’t know a thing about her sister. She pushed that to the back
of her mind and started pacing again. “My mother died a year ago, after my
father came back in town. The official word is they have no clue what killed
her.”

Lydia
’s eyes
teared. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I didn’t know.”

She waved off the sympathy. “Don’t be. It seems
she put me and my
sister
, in the
orphanage because my father is dangerous. He’d physically hurt her in the past,
and she was scared he’d do the same to us. She never told him about me or
Sarah. It wasn’t until she was on her deathbed that she even told my uncle
about us and confessed about my father.”

Max walked over to the counter and fixed her a
juice then handed it to her. “Here.”

She let the cool liquid slide down her throat,
helping to stifle any tears that threatened to appear. “Thanks.”

She walked to the table and set the glass down.
She placed her palms on the back of the chair for support to help her get
through the rest. “Apparently my mother thought my father was crazy. He also
had a temper that often got out of control. He left her because she didn’t
understand his vision and only returned two more times. Once when he knocked
her up with Sarah and the last time when she died. My uncle has been looking
for us ever since.”

She finally pulled out the chair and moved it
out of her way so she could stand in front of the trunk. She pulled the key
from around her neck and unlocked the trunk. She opened the lid and dumped the
contents of the box onto the table, scattering pictures. “The only things in here
are pictures of me and Sarah.”

Everyone sitting at the table grabbed one. “I
don’t know what that means.” She lifted the trunk and examined it more closely.
“Unless there’s a hidden panel on here or something else, I’m afraid that’s all
we’ve got.”

Jamie studied their faces as they inspected the
pictures, each as baffled as she’d been. They all looked hesitantly at Lydia as they
kept thumbing through the pictures. “Did you know that these pictures were the
only thing in the box?”

Lydia
shrugged a shoulder and clasped her hands together on the table. “I said that
Jamie held the key. Maybe it had another meaning altogether.”

The general pushed from the table “Well, it
seems we’re done here.” He held his hand out to Jamie. “I’m sure you’d like to
meet your sister.”

Jamie stood motionless. She hadn’t shared the
worst of the information. “General, why don’t you sit? There’s more I need to
tell you.”

The general raised his brow but slid back into
his seat. “Proceed.”

Jamie glanced at Max. A sincere smile graced his
lips. She was thankful for his support and knew the smile was his way of
showing that she had it. Jamie cleared her throat around the lump that had
settled firmly into place.