Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (41 page)

Moving back to the picnic basket, she pulled out some
french bread and a few different kinds of cheeses. As she arranged them all meticulously, he poured the wine.

Next
, out came a cold antipasto salad with two forks sticking out of it.

“This looks really delicious, sweetheart,” he said, leaning forward to have a kiss. When he pulled away, he stared into her eyes. “That was pretty tasty too.”

Cyra coyly smiled as she ran her fingers down his cheek. “I missed you today, Christopher,” she said, slicing of some cheese and handing it to him on a piece of bread.

He took it and popped it in his mouth. After chewing, he spoke, “I’m sorry about today. I lost my cool and shouldn’t have snapped at you. You didn't deserve to be the target of my frustration.”

Cyra sipped her wine, and then offered him a bite of food, as she contemplated her response. At first, she had been upset, but then she understood why he was all stressed out.
Cyra couldn’t blame him. If the shoe was on the other foot, certainly she would have had a similar response.

“It’s okay, Christopher. I understand why you were upset. I just really hope that you don’t believe that I wasn’t planning on telling you. I would have, but at a more appropriate time. I didn't think just dropping it on you
, like my partner did, was the right way. I hate hurting you, and this needed a bit more gentleness.”

He understood what she was saying.

“I don’t keep secrets from you, especially something like that, and I never will.”

He believed her. In all his life, he was never able to trust a woman
, like he did her. There was always that underlying fear that he was only wanted because of his money. With Cyra, she would rather he give it all away.

She loved him for him.

“I planned on telling you when we had a moment alone. Then, we could have discussed it more like adults and not heated from the incident.”

One of the things that Chris appreciated about Cyra was that she was generally calm and collected. The woman rarely freaked out
, running in circles as she had a meltdown.

He finished his wine, and already he was far more relaxed. Maybe it was the ambiance, the alcohol, or simply Cyra. As she refilled his glass, he couldn’t help but just fall head over heels in love with her all over again.

It was a pretty spectacular night.

“We need to talk, Chris.”

Uh oh.

That didn't sound promising at all. In fact, conversations that started with that
, generally ended poorly.

“I want to tell you something, but I don’t know how you’re going to fe
el. I hope you take it calmly and rationally.”

Yep, this was going to be bad.

“Okay, Cyra,” he said, chugging his wine.

When he drained the glass, she stared at him like he was a little bit nutty.

If she was going to break his heart, or tell him that she had changed her mind about getting married, he was now prepared for it. Maybe two glasses of wine would ease his heart and dull a little of the pain.

Cyra knew it was now or never.

“I want to sign a prenup.”

Chris stared at her. It was like the real Cyra had been abducted and replaced with an obviously crazy replica. “Why the hell would you want to do that, sweetheart
?”

She took a deep breath. “I think that when I get pregnant, I’m going to stop working. It
’ll be best for our family, if you don’t have to worry about me being held at gunpoint. You’re under a great deal of stress, and us being apart isn’t helping matters any. In fact, all I do is think about you when you’re gone. If I quit my job, then you have less stress, and so will I.”

He still stared at her. “Okay, but why the prenup? If you want to stay home and be a mother, I’m all for that. You don’t need to sign one.”
Inside, he was thrilled that she was offering him this huge concession, but he was still a little confused.

“Yes, I do. I need to do it
for me. I don’t ever want you to doubt that I’m not madly in love with you for you. I’m afraid that somewhere down the line, you’re going to wake up and think that I wanted to marry you for your money.”

He touched her cheek. “No prenup, Cyra.”

“But why, Chris?”

Gazing into her eyes, he shared every ounce of his heart and soul with her. “Because, I want you
to stay out of your own free will and not a legal document. I don’t want you to be with me if you’re unhappy. If you divorce me, because you hate me, then you can have it all. I won’t be able to survive without you, so why should I care about how much money I have left?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“A prenup forces you to remain for so many years, if you want to get a buyout. If you stay with me, knowing you could have it all, it means more. It means that you choose us. That’s more powerful than any piece of paper that a lawyer can draw up. I want my wife to want to be mine forever, so, I don’t want one.”

Her bottom lip quivered.

“Don’t worry what my mother thinks of us. Worry about what I think. I know, without a doubt, that you’re with me for me. I can see it every time I look into your eyes. I can see it by what you did here tonight. I’m well aware of how you feel about me, and sacrificing your job, to be my wife and mother of our children, is just more proof.”

“I love you, Christopher.”

He was well aware. “I love you, Cyra. I promise that I always will.”

Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his in a soul searching kiss. It was full of heat and passion for the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. When she pulled away, the same emotion that she was feeling
, was plastered across his face as they shared the moment.

“I want you, Cyra.”

She looked down at the food and began dumping what was left back into the picnic basket. When she was done, she stared at him and offered herself up. “Want dessert, Christopher?”

Oh
, hell, yes, he did. “You better believe it, sweetheart,” he said, standing and pulling her to her feet. “Here?” he asked, looking around.

“Yes. I’m pretty sure that Elizabeth knew I was going to try and get you naked. No one’s going to wander down the trail tonight.”

She hoped.

Chris was more than game. “Let’s live on the edge,” he said, as he began unbuttoning his shirt. When Cyra stopped him, he waited expectantly.

“Let me do this,” she said, softly.

Chris could already feel his body igniting at her words. As her hands
undid the buttons, his heart began racing. He couldn’t wait to make love to her under the stars and out in the woods. This was a pretty perfect night in his book.

When
Cyra had his shirt done, she dropped it off his shoulders. Next, her focus was on his pants, and what she knew waited inside. Flicking the button open, she slowly slid the zipper down. The hiss and his intake of breath, as she ran her fingers over him, were the only sounds heard in the night. When the pants fell from his hips, he stood there and kicked off his shoes. When Cyra dropped to her knees and stared up at him, his heart squeezed in his chest.

Th
ere was his soul staring back at him.

“Cyra,” he murmured, as he watched her stroke him through the material of his boxers. Everything in him froze as he waited for her to make the next move.

She loved him so much that she could weep from the emotion of it all. Staring up at him, she wanted to be his wife in the worst possible way. When she regained her focus, as he said her name, she tugged his boxers down. Lovingly, she caressed him with her fingers and the palm of her hand, as she savored the moment.

When he bobbed in front of her face, she took him in her mouth to offer him some of what she was feeling for him. As soon as she licked him, he moaned in pleasure
, and it shot electric-like currents straight through her body to her core.

This was her future.

Chris watched as she worshiped him lavishly. Cyra put her whole heart into it, and he was having a really hard time concentrating on anything but the intense pleasure that he was feeling. As she added her hand, he thought he was going to explode then and there.

If he didn't stop her, he absolutely would.

Moving away from the delicious heat of her mouth, he dropped down beside Cyra to begin pulling her clothes from her body. When she was topless, he ran his hands over the delicate paleness of her flesh and admired the feel of it beneath his fingers. When she shivered, he began leaving kisses across her shoulders. “Are you cold?” he asked, knowing that he was burning up. If he didn't find relief soon, Chris was going to burst into flames.

“No, I just want to feel you against me.”

Whatever his fiancée wanted, she could absolutely have. Laying her back on the blanket, he unbuttoned her pants and slid them, and her boots, off. Now, she was lying in just a pair of panties and bra.

His mouth watered. This was his personal treasure trove for the rest of his life. Chris Leonard was going to get to spend the next forty some years experiencing all Cyra had to offer
, and he would never be bored.

Laying over her, he began with her mouth. Making love to it
, slowly and torturously.  When he could finally manage to pull away, he slid down lower to the beautiful breasts held captive in the bra. Flicking the front clasp open, he feasted on what lay before him. When her body responded to his touch, he nearly lost his composure. His desire for her urged him to just take her, and he fought valiantly. Yet, Chris couldn’t do that to her. She had worked too hard on tonight, and Cyra was going to get slow, meaningful romance.

When her hands found his hair and shoulders, he nearly went mad.

Cyra couldn’t stop the sensory overload, as his mouth and hands were getting busy. As he teased and tormented her breasts with teeth and tongue, his hands had already moved lower and were causing their own havoc.

She arched up i
nto him, as he slid his fingers through her wetness, and she was pretty sure she was tighter than the string on a bow. If he plucked, she might just snap from the tension coursing through her body.

Staring up at her, he grinned. “
Are you ready for me, Cyra?” he asked, softly.

“Please, yes!” she exclaimed
, as his fingers continued to tease her to the edge. Cyra believed he was going to slide into her, but instead, he slid lower.

“I want more, Cyra,” he whispered, as he slid her panties from her body. “I want to taste you and hear you call my name,” he said, right before he dove into her body, like a starving man.

It didn’t take Cyra long to fall, and when Chris kept going, her entire body shook and shivered. “Christopher!” she practically shouted.

With a nip, she bowed beneath him and broke into a million pieces again. Somewhere outside her body, she could feel him hovering above her. There was the scent of his cologne and candles around them. As she opened her eyes, he was waiting for her.

“I love you,” he said, as he slid deep into the warmth of her body.

Cyra gasped and felt the entire world spin
, as she found herself on top staring down at him.

“I want to watch my
Goddess, and the stars that don’t even come close to your beauty, as we make love,” he said, as his hands went to her hips and he began helping her set the pace.

Cyra stared down into his face and memoriz
ed it for all eternity. Not only was there love, but she cherished the immense pleasure she found there. Nothing in life was ever going to be like this moment. Forever would she carry this with her, as the night they made love under the heavens.

“Oh God, sweetheart,” he murmured, as she picked up the pace. His hands released her hips and traced upwards to her breasts. Running his fingers over them, he drew a gasp from her. Just by the way she dropped her head back to enjoy the ride
, he knew that she was close.

“More,” he urged. When she gave him
what he asked for, his body shook with need. Nothing in life felt this good, ever.

“Chris, I can’t…” she began, but then her body took over, and called to his, luring him to the edge with her.

“Oh God,” he moaned, as she slid down him, burying his body deep within hers. It all felt…

Perfect.

When she dropped down one more time, her body shook and exploded apart. As hard as she tried to wait for him, it just wasn’t possible.

“Cyra,” he shouted, as her body
tightened around his and took him with her. As they both tumbled, he allowed the absolute peace to fill him.

This was perfection.

She was his treasure.

As they floated down and back to reality, he reached to the side and pulled one of the unused blankets over their still joined bodies to keep them warm. It wasn’t cold out, but the night had some chill, especially when you were cooling down after some amazing sex.

“Cyra?” he whispered into the night air.

“Hmmmm?” she replied, as she nuzzled deep into the crook of his throat.

“I want to try and have kids, and soon.”

She left little kisses there. “I came off birth control a few weeks ago.”

His heart skipped, and he was sure she could feel it, since she was lying on his body. “Really? So we could get pregnant any time now?”

She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “Did you miss that part of medical school?”

He started laughing, and she joined him.

“I can’t wait to have a family with you, Christopher. I think I want to fill up that haunted
mausoleum of ours.

“I can’t wait
either, sweetheart,” and then, he paused. “I know how I can contribute to this pregnancy.”

She kissed him lightly on the lips. “How
, other than the obvious?”

It took him a minute to catch that. “You’ve been hanging out with Elizabeth far too much,” he said, laughing. Then
, he continued, “I’m going to deliver our children.”

She stopped moving. “What?”

The look on her face was priceless. “I am a medical doctor. I just specialized in Forensic Pathology.”

Cyra was scared shitless, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. “Absolutely, Christopher. I would love to have you deliver o
ur kids.”

“Really?” He didn't think she was actually going to go for that.

“Yes, on one condition.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“You make sure I get drugs. I’m no one’s hero, and I want the good stuff.”

He began laughing. “I think
I can arrange that.”

She snuggled under the blanket that he
had pulled over them and closed her eyes.

“I have you, sweetheart,” he said, and he absolutely did.

                                *   *   *

After dinner, they were all sitting on the couch. It was peaceful to know that they were beginning to be themselves again. Elizabeth was lying against Ethan, and Callen’s head was on her lap.

It was c
omfortable and very cathartic.

“I think I’m going to go call Doctor
Gaines. I want to tell her thank you for all she’s done. I know I haven’t made her job easy the last four months,” Ethan said.

“Are you going to continue seeing her?” Elizabeth asked.

Blackhawk thought about it. “I think I’d like for us all to meet with her. Not that I think we’re broken, but because I want my family to hear what she asks and what I say. I think that truth really has set me free, and that you being with me, will be part of the process.”

“What do you talk about?” Callen asked, curiosity getting the best of him. Then
, he realized maybe he shouldn’t have asked. “Sorry.”

Ethan placed his hand on his brother’s head in Elizabeth’s lap. “It’s okay, Cal. You can ask. We talk a lot about the abuse and what he did to me.”

She laid her head on his shoulder. Elizabeth was a little sad that he had never told them everything, but a stranger knew. It hurt, but she pushed it aside for him. “It was bad, wasn’t it?”

Closed his eyes and thought back to it. “Yeah, it was.”

She held onto him. “I’m sorry, Ethan. I’m so damn sorry,” she whispered, apologizing for not getting to him sooner, or not stopping it. “I would have traded places with you in a heartbeat.”

“Me too,” Callen stated.

He loved them both so much. “I wouldn’t have,” he replied. “I would die before letting either of you experience that. Patrick Parrish was a sick bastard, and I’m tired of being his victim. I believed that you’d stop loving me if you knew what happened. That you would know what he said and find truth in it.”

She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “Ethan, I don’t know what he said, but when I look at you, I see perfection.”

“I’m ashamed that I begged for my life, Elizabeth. He broke me and I begged like a child, to stop the pain.”

Callen sat up and stared at his brother. The emotional scars never went away,
and he knew that more than anyone. “You beat him, Ethan.”

“No I didn't. Elizabeth beat him. You both saved me.”

She objected. “I put the bullet in his head. You dug your way out of that grave, Ethan. You didn't give up, and you found your way home. That was all you. You were stronger than he was, and you’re proving it every day. Look at how you’re fighting to get back to where you were, before all of this happened.”

“I’m only able to because of you both. You’re my strength. Without you two, I would have given up. That’s why I want you in therapy with me.”

Elizabeth and Callen were touched. Until that moment, they had never been asked to stand with him during the toughest part of his week. This was just more proof that he was no longer pushing them away in fear, but allowing himself to lean on them, like they once did before.

“Will you come with me?”

“Absolutely,” Callen said, standing.

Elizabeth turned and took his face in her hands. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, my darling.”

Ethan pushed his wife up to her feet and hugged her. Soon, Callen joined them and wrapped his arms around them. This time, instead of hiding in the embrace, Ethan held them both against him, like he had done once before.

“I love you both,” he said.

Callen offered it back, but Elizabeth kissed him instead. It was deep and spoke of the love in her for the man against her body.

When he reluctantly pulled away, there was peace on his face. “I’ll be right back,” he said, heading towards the office with his phone.

When he closed the door, Elizabeth hugged Callen tightly. “I love that my family is almost whole again,” she said softly, as she listened to Ethan’s voice through the door.

Whitefox did too. “How about we start making out on the couch?” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

She was just about to say yes, when her phone began ringing. As she gazed down at the number, she recognized it as one of the team. Answering quickly, Elizabeth prayed there wasn’t going to be more bodies.

“Go ahead, Agent Stanton,” she said, listening to the woman.

Callen stared at her expectantly, for any clue as to what was going on. When her face stayed blank, he knew it wasn’t going to be good. Elizabeth had a few tells in life that would always give away the situation. When something bad was coming, she stayed calm and neutral. The blank look on her face said it all.

This wasn’t a good call.

“Thank you for contacting me,” she replied. Hanging up, she stared at Callen. “We have a really big problem.”

“Uh oh. More bodies?”

“Well, there may be one shortly,” she said, heading for the kitchen to leave Ethan a note.

“What
’s going on, angel?”

She
glanced over her shoulder. “The sheriff is at the local bar, shitfaced drunk, and talking up a storm.”

Callen
paused. That was one of the worst things that could happen, especially since they wanted to keep the details to themselves. “Like how he hates the FBI, talk?” he hoped.

“No. Like how we have a God damn cannibal in town.”

“Oh shit,” he muttered, grabbing the keys.

Elizabeth scribbled the note and took the keys from Callen. “I’ll drive. We have to get there
fast, and I know all the shortcuts.”

Whitefox didn't argue.

He knew better.

Elizabe
th Blackhawk was on the warpath, and Tony Morell was a dead man…

~ Chapter Twelve ~

Outside the bar, Callen and Elizabeth both hopped out of the Navigator. This was the last thing that she wanted to be doing at that moment, and she seriously doubted Tony Morell’s sanity.

It was one thing to hate the FBI. That she got and understood, but if he was sitting in a bar and talking about the specifics of a case, then he was heading down the wrong road. How did he know that the killer wasn’t on the barstool right beside him?

He
couldn’t, and that risked showing the person who they were hunting, all their cards.

“Let me handle this,” Callen stated, opening the door to the seedy bar. He wasn’t really enthused that
their pregnant woman was heading into a nicotine filled pub to get an unhealthy dose of second hand smoke.

Yeah, he was actually bordering on murderous rage
, and he could only imagine the tirade that Ethan would be on, right at this moment.