Moving Target (27 page)

"He didn't, Ani. You know that." Jenn put her feet on the coffee table in front of the couch they were sitting on. "So, didya get laid?"

"Jenn!" Ani said in a hushed voice. "He could
really
lose his job right now if anyone found out."

Jenn dropped her feet right off the coffee table. "You did it? With a U.S. Marshal?"

"Quiet!" Ani looked around as if someone might be standing near them, listening. "It just . . . happened. We both wanted it to, I know. But neither of us planned on acting on it until after the trial and all this mess."

"Whoa." Jenn put one foot on the couch and wrapped her arms around her bent knee. "Do you love him?"

Ani looked down at her hands before she met Jenn's gaze. "Yeah, I do."

"Then you can forgive him." Jenn stared at her matter-of-factly. "It's not worth it to let love slip through your hands. So, he could have broken the rules and told you, but he knows his job and he knows how to protect you."

For a moment it all churned in Ani's mind as she looked at her hands. Then it gradually became crystal clear. She'd been shocked and hurt, but Daniel truly hadn't betrayed her. He'd done what he was forced to do.

"You're right," Ani said as she glanced at her sister again. "Now if I can figure out how to make it up to him."

Jenn snickered. "I'm sure you can think of away."

Ani shook her head at her sister's teasing then gave a wicked grin. "Oh, I know how to show him just how sorry I am."

But then she sobered. "Like we'd even get a chance alone from this point on—at least until after the trial."

"Hmmm . . ." Jenn pursed her lips. "Maybe I can come up with something." She rolled her shoulders as if relieving an ache.

"What about when all this is over?"

With a sigh, Ani said, "I don't know. I just don't know."

"From what you've told me of how things have gone between the two of you," Jenn said, "let's just say I'd lay a bet on Daniel's side."

Warmth spread through Ani's chest and butterflies filled her belly at the thought of Daniel loving her as much as she loved him.

Did he?

She'd just have to show him how she felt and he'd have to take it from there.

While he sat in a lounge chair near the custom-designed, Olympic-sized swimming pool, Yegor caressed the barrel of his Russian Grach pistol. It was much too cold to swim, but he preferred not to make a mess in his home.

The metal ridges of the gun in his lap felt rough beneath his fingers. He picked it up, feeling the weight of it in his hand. It had been a while since he'd used it. He usually left such dirty work to his men.

Like falling off a bicycle, the Americans would say
, he thought as he wrapped his hand around the grip.

He looked from the handgun to the six men standing before him. Dmitry, Piterskij, and four of Yegor's front men, including Alkash.

"I am sick of failure after failure after failure." Yegor squeezed the grip of his pistol as he looked directly at Piterskij, then Dmitry. "How many times have you failed to eliminate the King woman?"

Yegor raised the Grach and waved it at both of them as he spoke. Piterskij and Dmitry both flinched. Dmitry looked like he was going to piss his pants.

Pidoras
.

Piterskij recovered and his usual calm expression settled on his features.

"I can tolerate such failures no more." Yegor raised his gun and pointed it at Piterskij. The man's expression of calm vanished.

Just before Yegor squeezed the trigger, he turned the barrel at Alkash. The shot rang out in the late afternoon air. Alkash only had time for a surprised expression before the bullet pierced his forehead and blew out the back of his head.

Alkash's body crumpled to the cool deck beside the pool and Yegor shook his head. "Such a shame, really."

He aimed his gun at Dmitry who trembled like a woman.

Yegor shook his head again and made a tsk-tsk sound. "Before I see you in prison, I will see you dead, just like him. Only slower. With much more pain."

Dmitry's throat worked as he stared at Yegor.

"My granddaughters need a father, not a convict. I will not allow them to live with such an embarrassment. You will show up for trial again, but the King woman must never make it."

Dmitry slowly nodded. "Yes, Father."

"It is good we understand one another." Yegor lowered his handgun and saw the visible relief on his son's face. "As I have told you, I will allow you to stand trial, and as long as you are acquitted, you shall live so that my granddaughters have a father." He waved the Grach as he spoke. "Otherwise, I will make sure you do not live to make it to the prison.

Understood?"

"Yes, Father." Dmitry sounded like he had to force the words out.

He made a shooing motion with the gun, waving it at Dmitry and Piterskij. "Go now. Clean up this mess. The smell sickens me."

The remaining three men beside his son and Piterskij each gave Yegor a deep bow of acknowledgment. Yegor's arms strained as he pushed his bulk from the poolside chair. When he was standing he tucked the Grach inside his jacket pocket.

It wouldn't do for his granddaughters to see him with a weapon when he visited them in their playroom.

Jenn spoke with one of the two Deputies guarding their door and told him that she wanted her fiancé, Brian, and to please call Deputy Parker, too. Brian had wanted to leave the sisters alone during their reunion, and was staying in one of the other rooms for the time being.

The Deputy Marshals almost hadn't let Brian accompany Jennifer to the safe house since he wasn't officially "family." But after a quick background check, and with Jenn's insistence, they allowed her fiancé to go with her.

Ani felt jittery and couldn't sit still as she waited in one of the bedrooms. It was on the other side of the sitting room, across from Jenn's room.

Now if Daniel would just come so she could speak with him.

She intended to do a lot more than
speak
with Daniel.

While she waited she paced the length of the room with its two double beds. It would be where she stayed with Janet Hernandez until after the trial. It was prettier than any of the hotel rooms they'd stayed in, with blue carpeting that was soft beneath her bare feet. It had whitewashed walls, blue comforters, and paintings of seascapes. The place was decorated as if it were on the French Riviera. Much prettier than the other basic, functional safe house.

Her suitcase was sprawled open on one of the beds—she hadn't had a chance to hang anything up and right now she was too nervous. She'd taken what she needed out of the suitcase and left the rest. The box of condoms had ended up buried underneath her clothing because she hadn't sent it to Daniel in his suitcase for some reason. As if she'd known in her heart she would forgive him.

She took a condom out and tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans.

As she paced, she took a deep breath. What if Daniel was mad at her for being so upset with him? By the look in his eyes, she knew she had hurt him, but he'd still been attentive during the ambulance ride.

She rubbed her arms against the goose bumps that prickled her skin.

When she heard the front door open and close she stopped in mid-step and held her breath. Two male voices that she couldn't distinguish. Had Daniel come as Jenn had requested?

A shiver trailed up her spine as she recognized Daniel's deep, sexy voice. Mere moments later there was a light knock on the French doors.

"Ani?" Daniel said from the other side.

She took a deep breath and stood where she'd stopped walking, several lengths away.

"Come in," she said loud enough for him to hear.

The handle turned and the door slowly opened until Daniel stepped through and closed it behind him.

Daniel just stood there and stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

He looked so good. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt under his overshirt that was snug around his muscled physique. He didn't have his body armor on, so she could see his gorgeous bod better. His carved biceps, broad chest, powerful shoulders, and flat stomach that led to trim hips. His "package" was well defined behind his stone-washed jeans and she sighed inwardly.

For a moment neither of them moved nor spoke.

Ani couldn't hold herself back any longer. She ran up to him, flung her arms around his neck, pulled his head down, and kissed him with everything she had.

Daniel seemed startled but recovered pretty quickly. He grasped her ass and pulled her tight against him while he kissed her hard and fierce. His growing erection pressed into her belly. Their kiss became more frantic. She reached between them and unfastened his belt. He released her long enough to take it off and lay everything that had been on it on the bed, including his gun and his cell phone.

Ani wrapped her arms around Daniel's neck and hooked her thighs around his hips.

His mouth was harsh, his kiss rough, his stubble abrading her skin. Her nipples were hard against his chest, her sex ached, and her panties were damp. She was vaguely aware of him carrying her as he stepped forward until her back was against the wall.

Both of them made hungry sounds of want and need as they thrust their tongues into each other's mouths and meshed their mouths together, licking, sucking, biting. He tasted like he'd just had a glass of iced tea and lemon, along with his wonderful flavor that she loved. And his smell—the way it filled her made her heady.

They were breathing heavily, and Ani gasped and moaned as he began kissing her jaw, moving his mouth toward her ear.

She kept her thighs tight around his hips and crossed her ankles behind his ass.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" he murmured before nipping her earlobe and causing her to give a small cry.

"Daniel."
She tipped her head back against the wall, exposing her neck to him. "If you take me right here, right now, I'll forgive you for anything."

A powerful rumble rose up in Daniel's chest as he moved his lips down her exposed throat. Her thighs were still hooked around his hips as he brought his hands between them and unbuttoned her jeans.

"No condom," he growled, but he didn't stop kissing her throat.

"In my back pocket." She could barely speak as he reached around her and slipped his hands into each of her pockets and pulled out the condom from one of them.

He grinned. "Prepared."

"For you." Those butterflies went crazy in her belly and electricity zinged straight to that place between her thighs. She needed him so much.

Ani let her legs slide down his hips until she was standing. She moaned as he shoved her underwear and jeans down and she helped by stepping out of them. She brought her hands to the button of his jeans, unfastened it, and unzipped as fast as she could. She pushed his briefs and jeans down just enough to free his cock and balls at the same time he shoved her T-shirt and bra up. Cool air brushed her nipples just before his hot mouth latched onto her. He slowly let it slip from his mouth and she whimpered.

The crackle of the condom package opening made her more excited. She looked down to see him roll it on. His gaze met hers. "Wrap your legs around me again, honey."

She did and immediately the head of his erection was poised at the entrance to her core. He grabbed her hands and drew her arms up high over her head, pinning them to the wall, and she whimpered at not being able to touch him. He gripped her wrists in one of his hands and used his other to cup her ass.

The wall was hard behind her back as he thrust his cock deep inside her. She almost cried out at the sheer pleasure of having him back where he belonged. He captured her mouth in a rough kiss and began pounding against her sex, thrusting his cock in and out, hitting that sweet spot so deep it made her squirm.

They never stopped kissing as he took her hard and fast, as if asserting his dominance over her. Claiming her.

Daniel's jeans were rough against her thighs, heightening her pleasure. His kisses stole her breath away and she grew lightheaded the closer she came to orgasm.

The world seemed to spin. All that mattered was having Daniel inside her, his mouth taking hers as their kiss turned rough.

As rough as he was thrusting in and out of her channel.

Ani felt herself slipping out of reality. Her orgasm was barreling toward her and she knew she was going to be swept away with it.

Her climax hit her hard. She cried out against Daniel's mouth and he took the rest of the cry in a harsh kiss. She felt like she was spinning, being taken to some other place.

Yet she never stopped feeling Daniel pounding in and out of her and the feel of his kiss, his hand keeping her arms above her head, her nipples brushing his shirt and feeling the hard wall against her back.

Ani couldn't come down from her climax because he was still thrusting, causing her orgasm to go on and on. She almost felt like she was going to pass out from the power of all the sensations she was experiencing, but she didn't want it to stop.

Daniel suddenly jerked and pressed his hips tight against her. He broke their kiss, tilting back his head and letting out a groan while his cock throbbed inside her.

For a moment they stayed there. He lowered his head and buried his face against her neck at the same time he released her wrists. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him with her thighs still wrapped around his hips. She took deep gulps of air and his breathing was heavy, his chest expanding against hers. Perspiration clung to her skin from the power of their lovemaking and the scent of sex was heavy in the air.

Another groan rumbled in his chest. He raised his head and looked into her eyes before taking her mouth in a short, hard kiss.

Daniel drew away and carried her to the bed and gently laid her on it beside the suitcase. He looked down at her before wrapping the condom in tissue paper and disposing of it in a wastebasket beside the bed. To her disappointment he tucked his cock back into his briefs and fastened his jeans.

He set the suitcase on the floor then eased onto the bed beside her. She rolled onto her side to face him. He wrapped his hand in a lock of her dark hair and she melted at how he was looking at her. He brushed his fingers over her T-shirt-clad nipple and she gasped at the feathering sensation.