Reid's Deliverance (13 page)

The accusation hit a nerve. “It isn’t about duty over family. For a lot of people, the job is a calling. They wouldn’t feel complete if they did anything else.”

She looked up at him. “Like you? No. Don’t deny it. You’re comfortable with a gun. You handled it like it was an extension of yourself.”

What if he was in one of those careers? Why didn’t he want to go to the police for help? Was he AWOL? Revulsion rose. No, not a possibility. Honor. Trust. Loyalty. He believed in those things. He wouldn’t throw it away.

“I don’t know why I’m good with guns.” He stroked her arm. Did her list change things between them? “Does not knowing bother you?”

“No matter what your career is, I’ll be happy when you remember who you are.”

He tilted up her chin. The absolute certainty in her eyes reflected in her expression. What if it meant him and Thane were on opposite sides? That her friend Celine would end up heartbroken over Thane?

Lauren’s brow crinkled. “What?”

Who was Thane? He had to find out more, but now wasn’t the time. He kissed the tip of her nose. “We skipped dinner.”

“I know. I could use some junk food.”

“We can pick up some tomorrow.”

She pushed up on an elbow. “Why do we have to wait?”

“I hate to break it to you, beautiful, but carrot sticks and slices of fruit don’t fit the junk category.”

“And once again you underestimate my food capabilities. Follow me and learn.” Lauren got out of bed and dressed in a sleep shirt.

His jeans had dried out enough so he put them on. What he’d give for clothes. Washing and wearing the same set over and over again was becoming a pain.

In the kitchen, she reached up to the top shelf of an upper cabinet. “See?”

Reid accepted the package of chocolate bars. “I stand corrected. What else are you hiding up there?” He took down a box of cinnamon graham crackers and marshmallows. “Plan on reliving your Girl Scout camping days?”

“No.” Her face reddened. “I wasn’t a Girl Scout, and just because I bought this stuff doesn’t mean I was planning to make s’mores.”

“You said it. I didn’t.” He leaned his hands on the counter and blocked her in. “I’m not judging you.”

She worried her lower lip.

He stopped her with a quick kiss. “What’s so special about this?”

* * * *

Lauren focused on his chest. The hell-no list and now the s’mores, he made her want to confess all of her secrets. And break her rules. She’d meant what she said. Finding his identity trumped everything. It didn’t matter if he worked in one of the professions on the list. Even to the point where she might consider seeing him again if he asked.

He bent to eye level. “You can tell me.”

“My dad used to build a fire out back. We’d make s’mores.” A lump formed in her throat. “I’d planned on making them one last time.”

Reid stood. “Let’s do it then.”

“It’s wet outside.”

“The older firewood under the tarp is dry enough. We can use the fireplace. The metal skewers in the box of camping gear will work.” He went to get his shirt and boots.

“Okay.” Giddiness fueled her steps to the loft. By the time she’d skewered the marshmallows, Reid had a fire. Wood popped and snapped with the growing flames.

Lauren put paper towels and the makings for the s’mores on the coffee table. “It’s going to feel like a sauna in here.”

“I’ve got a solution for that, too.” Reid whipped off his shirt and tossed it aside. “We get naked.”

The dragon inked on him from shoulder to back rippled as if it had come to life. His abdominals rippled, too. Angled cuts of muscle low on his abdomen featured the downy trail leading to his sex. He lowered his zipper and his length spilled out. As he dragged off his jeans, heat flushed through her breasts.

“Lauren.” The rasp in his voice snapped her eyes up. “Keep looking at me like that, and we’ll forget about s’mores.”

“Can’t I have both?”

He chuckled. “Baby, I like the way you think.”

As she took off her shirt, his grin faded with lust. Reid snagged the throw blankets from the couch and tucked one of them around her. “Let’s keep covered up.” His lips sweeping down the curve of her neck brought shivers. “At least for now.” He wrapped the other blanket around his waist. “Shall we?”

They sat in front of the fireplace holding skewers. The sweet smell of roasting marshmallows tugged her lips into a smile. Doing this with Reid made it even better than she’d imagined.

“It’s time. Let me hold this.” He took the skewer from her hands. “Grab the crackers and chocolate.”

In perfect sync, Lauren sandwiched the marshmallows as he pulled away the skewers. She handed him one of the gooey, graham cracker treats on a napkin. “Careful, it’s hot.” Chocolate dripped down her hand as she bit into hers. Laughing, she licked away the drops. “How is it?” The desire in his heavy-lidded gaze held her in place.

Reid set his treat aside. “Perfect.” Then he took hers from her hand and laid it on the coffee table. “Beautiful.” He leaned in and traced his tongue along the seam of her mouth. “And so fucking delicious.”

As he pressed her down on the rug, she welcomed the full invasion of a deep, hard kiss. Reid pulled open the blanket and exposed her to the heat. He swiped his finger into the melted center of the s’more on the coffee table.”

“What are you doing?”

A sinful smile tipped up his mouth. He circled the tips of her breasts with warm chocolate. “Enjoying my treat.”

Need heightened expectation. His tongue flicked her nipple. Heat spiraled to her core. He swirled more chocolate over the sensitive buds. Kneading, tasting, pulling softly on her nipples. His touches alone brought her to a heart-pounding climax.

He swept kisses down her belly. His shoulders widened her thighs, exposing her pulsing sex. Reid lazily ran his tongue between her folds. “Mine.”

Want coiling through her made her arch up. “Yes.”

With each lick along the seam he delved deeper. Every swipe over her clit a final reward she ached to receive. The glide of his tongue. The heat of his mouth. The thrust of his fingers into her sex, all pulled her in like an overpowering addiction. She orgasmed and her cries burned her throat. Lauren floated in pure pleasure.

He stretched out on top of her. She looked into his eyes. Her breath caught. Instead of passion, hardness filled his gaze. He swept kisses down to her ear. “Someone’s outside.”

Her heart hammered. A whimper escaped.

“I’m right here.” Reid whispered. “No one will hurt you.” He shifted more to the side. “I need you to do exactly as I tell you. When I roll off, run and lock yourself in the bedroom. If anyone tries to get in there but me, shoot them.”

Fear gripped her, but Reid remained stone cold, calm. He rolled to the side. She ran. Once in the room, she slammed the door. Her hands shook as she locked it. Breaths heaved out of her chest. He’d said to get the gun. She grabbed it from the bedside table drawer and chambered a round.
Get dressed.
If someone came through the door she wasn’t confronting them naked. She scrambled into sweatpants, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. She’d assumed Thane had spotted Reid that afternoon. Who else was out there?

Reid hustled into his jeans and grabbed the fire poker. Just his luck to have a gun in the loft, but no bullets. He’d take his chances. He wanted this perverted, dysfunctional motherfucker.

The French doors rattled as he flung them open. He took the stairs by twos and threes from the deck. At a flat-out run, he hauled it to the side of the house. The full moon illuminated the night. A shadow popped out from behind the covered woodpile. He swung the poker.

The guy ducked and blocked every swing as if he anticipated it. Then he charged.

Reid connected with an elbow to the head.

His opponent retaliated with a swift punch near the ribs.

Reid’s breath hitched. More punches connected for both of them.

“Damn it, Reid, stop. It’s me.”

This asshole knew his name? “Who are you?” Reid felt the opening, and he went for a headlock.

His opponent slipped out of his hold.

“Thane?” Lauren approached with a flashlight.

The beam momentarily blinded Reid. He blocked it with his hand. “Lauren, go inside.”

“No.” She pointed the light and the gun at Thane. “How do you know Reid?”

As Thane sat up, he gave Reid a quizzical look. Thane spat on the ground. “We were in the same band.”

* * * *

In the kitchen, Lauren dabbed at Reid’s bleeding lip with a cloth. “It’s not as bad as I thought. I don’t think you’ll need stitches. What about your ribs? They’re bruised. Are you sure it doesn’t hurt when you breathe?”

“I’m fine. Take a look.” He lifted his shirt. “It looked worse than it really was.” Funny. It didn’t hurt like earlier.

“Looks like you’re a fast healer.” Her gentle swipes grew harder. The sting zipped into him. “I can’t believe you ran out there like that.”

He took the cloth from her hand. “I can’t believe you didn’t do what I told you.” He suppressed the hint of pride welling up. She hadn’t listened to him, but she also hadn’t shown fear.

“You knowing Thane is a weird coincidence. At least he can help you fill in the blanks.” Her gaze drifted to the living room. Thane was on the phone with Celine. “Do you think you two can talk without wailing on each other again?”

“Looks like we have to.” How were Thane and Lauren connected? Why did the two of them in the same room seem wrong? “You mind giving us time alone?”

“Of course not. I need to call Celine after Thane is finished. Just remember to keep it civil. I don’t like seeing you bruised and bloody.”

A frisson of irritation kicked up. “You make it sound like I got my ass kicked.”

She huffed in exasperation. “Give this to Thane.”

He took the cold pack and caught her hip. Ignoring the pain, he kissed her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a small smile and walked down the hall.

Reid stalked into the living room and handed Thane the pack. “How’s your head?”

“Attached.” Thane pressed the pack above the back of his neck. “Are you serious about losing your memory?”

“Yep.” Reid crossed his arms. “You can start filling in the gaps by telling me why you were peeping at my bare ass.”

“Trust me. Your ass is the last thing I wanted to see. Celine said Lauren was acting weird. I came by to check on her and look around. When I saw the tattoo on your back, I had to be sure.”

“Why?”

Thane tipped his head toward the glass doors. “We should step outside. Lauren shouldn’t hear this.”

They headed to the deck, and sat opposite each other on benches at the wood table.

Unease twisted in Reid’s gut. “Let me guess. We’re not in a band.”

“Actually, we are.” Thane tossed the ice pack aside. “I better start from the beginning.”

Reid listened. The army, signing on for a recon unit, Thane’s Redemption, that made sense. The helicopter crash, Dalir, time travel, no fucking way. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?”

Thane didn’t flinch away from his direct gaze. “No. I expect you to regain your memory. You have to remember why you’re here. It’s critical to the mission.”

“All right. I’ll bite. If we’re part of a team, why don’t you know about the so-called mission? And where’s the rest of the team and this ancient warrior dude?”

“I’m not in on the mission because I’m not team leader anymore. You are. You should be with them in the present. Something’s wrong.”

“Why aren’t you with us? Did you get kicked out?”

“No. I left for Celine.” He exhaled a deep breath. “Our last mission didn’t go as planned. Some unknown entity changed too many things here. She got caught in the middle of it. I couldn’t lose her.” His gaze took on a faraway look. “When I finally got to her, it was like she’d splintered apart. She wasn’t grounded in time. I had to pull her back together. We’ve been through some rough shit that scared me. She’s fine now. I’m just glad she doesn’t recall most of it.”

Unexplained anger, resignation, sadness, it welled up in Reid. “So you just up and left the team?”

Thane huffed out a wry chuckle. “You can’t remember shit but you still sound as pissed as the day I left.” He leaned forward. “Coming here for Celine wasn’t about choosing her over the team. If something would have happened to her, my head would have been messed up forever. I wouldn’t have been any good for the team. I did what was best for her and you.”

If he’d lost her, you know as well as I do that he would have carried that burden forever.
It resonated like something he’d heard before. If Lauren were in danger because of him, he’d probably feel obligated to get her out of it. Even more of a reason to leave before trouble followed him to her doorstep. “You said I should be in the present. So you’re saying I time traveled to the future?”

“You’re two years out.” Thane diagrammed his explanation on the table. “It’s like this. There’s three moments in time. The past, what we call the present, and the future. The past is the only other place we exist. We can’t go there. Something about two of us existing in the same place in time screwing shit up.”

“But what’s stopping us from running into ourselves in the future?”

“We only exist in one point in time from the present forward. You’re here and nowhere else. That’s part of Dalir’s gift. It keeps us out of trouble. Our missions involve intervening to stop a bad event that’s happening in the future or we gather the intel and prevent it from kicking off in the first place. Think of the present as our home base. It’s the place we phase back to once the mission is done. ”

What Thane was saying sounded…right. “Okay. Let’s say there is a mission. Maybe I came to find you for help, but something happened.”

Thane shook his head. “Dalir can’t actually see what will happen in the future, but he can sense where something bad is about to happen. For some reason, now he can’t see anything from the present to two years out. With all the unknowns, he banned the team from missions less than two years out. The time stream is also unstable. You’re lucky you even made it through.”