Queen (29 page)

He looked around wildly and then darted into the first open doorway he came to, afraid to look back and see if she was still staring. He had a sudden flash of insight as to how the people upon whom he'd spied over the years must have felt and likened it to that of targets in a shooting gallery.

Queen's stomach turned. Another car honked, and she looked around in shock, realizing that she was still in the middle of the street, and made a run for the other side, where the Blazer was parked. She had a sudden urge to get home and lock herself in—and the world out—until Cody came home.

Something told her that the man's observations had not been all that innocent, especially after the way he'd behaved when he realized she'd seen him. And in spite of his funny-looking sunglasses, she would have sworn he had a sharp, pointy nose, just as J.J. had described.

Cody felt for the jeweller's box tucked safely inside his pocket, as he had more than once during the trip from Denver.

"I'm hurrying," Dennis said, and grinned at the look on his buddy's face.

"I didn't say a word," Cody said.

"You didn't have to. It's called reading your body language, Coda-man. You're as antsy as a green flyboy on his first scramble."

Cody leaned back on the seat and tried to relax. Dennis was right. He felt just as he had the first time he'd been involved in an all-out alert—only the rush the pilots made to get to their jets and get them in the air was nothing compared to the rush of adrenaline shooting through his system now. He had a gut feeling about the odd message Queen had given him regarding a "problem" at home, and the feeling wasn't good.

He sighed. Maybe he was just inventing trouble. All he needed was to get home and see Queen's beautiful face, dig his fingers through her hair, and feel her wrap herself around him. Then he would be fine.

"Nearly there," Dennis said as he topped the last hill.

Cody grinned. "Thanks for the ride. Next time, I'll drive."

"No, next time we'll have your own car ready, compliments of Uncle Sam. A gray, government-issue special."

"Oh, great."

Cody's sarcasm was not lost on Dennis Macon, and his easy laugh filled the interior of the car as they took the last turn toward home.

"Here we are," Dennis said as he drove into the yard and parked.

"Sorry you can't stay," Cody said, making his point with a sharp look he dared Dennis to contest.

"Oh, Lord, but you've got it bad," Dennis said. He looked up in time to see Queen exit the house and stand above them on the deck, waving down in happy anticipation. "And I can't say as how I blame you."

Cody didn't answer, and Dennis didn't wait around to see if he would change his mind about the invitation to come inside. He knew when he wasn't wanted. And he also knew that if it weren't for Queen Houston, he wouldn't have Cody Bonner heading this project. Priorities being what they were in the military, he decided to take what he could get.

Cody met her at the top step and laughed with joy as she hurled herself into his arms. My God, but I've missed coming home to this, he thought. And then he recalled his life with Claire and realized that he'd never come home to this. She'd always been at some social function or didn't want her hair or makeup mussed. He wondered what he'd done to deserve this kind of love, and this kind of woman, this late in his life.

"I missed you," Queen said, feeling a surge of response from his body as he moved against her.

"I think it's pretty damned obvious that I missed you, too," Cody said, then took her upturned face as an offer to kiss.

Her lips were soft and tasted of strawberries. He wondered what she'd been cooking and then wondered why he cared. The last thing he wanted now was food.

Queen took in the scent and the feel of him, glorying in the fact that she could make him ache in all the right places with nothing more than a look or a touch. His mouth raked across her face, centering on her lips, and then insisted on staking a claim she would never deny him.

She groaned, and his hands slid behind her, cupping her hips and grinding her
gently against the ache she'd created. "Cody, I—"

"Come inside," he whispered, and lifted her off her feet.

"But we need to—"

"I know what we need, my lady. It's each other."

"Yes, but—"

"No buts. Besides, I distinctly heard you say 'yes.' Am I right?"

The wind caught in his hair and ran playful, gusty fingers through the raven-dark mane. His eyes, as blue as the sky behind him, dared her to argue with forces beyond their control.

Queen sighed with defeat and smiled in answer. She knew defeat when it came. And she was no match for the passion between them. "Yes, my love, you're right, as always."

Cody whooped with joy, carried her through the door, and kicked it shut behind him, careful to turn the lock before carrying her up the stairs.

Within seconds of entering his bedroom he started to remove their clothing, first his, then hers, one step at a time, increasing the need between them in slow increments.

"I seem to remember you telling me something special last night," Cody said as he laid her on his bed and slid himself upon her. "Something I've been waiting a long time to hear."

Queen feathered her fingers through his hair, combing the texture over and over in gentle strokes. Her eyelids grew heavy with passion as his body grew hard. The feel of his weight and his need, and the hard, rhythmic thump of his heartbeat against her breasts started a low and constant throbbing down deep in her body.

She moved, her legs shifting apart as her hands slid down the length of his back, and, when she'd made room for him, urged him in by digging her fingernails lightly across his backside and arching herself upward to meet the thrust she knew would come.

He couldn't resist her offer and slid inside without conscious thought, moving on instinct. The groan that slipped out of his tightly clenched lips was one not of pain, but of ecstasy, and when she began to move beneath him, he knew that it had only begun.

"Oh, Cody!" she gasped, and then tried to focus when the movement inside her changed from controlled thrusts to a pounding need. One minute she'd known what she was going to say, and the next thing she could remember was an overwhelming rush of sensation that swept everything from her mind except the surge toward completion.

She clutched him, holding on for dear life as the world within her mind splintered, and knew as he wrapped his arms around her and laid his face against the curve of her neck that his sanity had shattered as well.

He shook, shoulders heaving from exertion and spent need. His hair was damp beneath her fingertips, and his breath against her breasts was short and uneven.

"I love you, you know," she whispered, and held him as he grew still.

He lifted himself up, bracing on elbows that were barely steady, and stared down into a world of green that was wild and deep enough for a man to get lost in. He pressed his lips against her mouth in a fervent thanksgiving and knew that for him it was already too late. He was lost as hell and didn't give a damn about finding his way out.

"Thank you, my lady," he said, and kissed the smile on her face. "For giving me everything a man could wish for."

Queen heard a clock chime downstairs and sighed. "You're going to get a lot more than you wished for if you don't let me up and let me get dressed. The boys will be here before you know it. And I don't think they're quite ready for this scene."

Cody grinned, remembering the jeweler's box in the jacket lying somewhere on the floor. "Oh, you'd be surprised," he said as he rolled away and reluctantly let her up, watching her nudity with undisguised appreciation as she struggled back into her clothes. "I think they're ready for more than you give them credit."

She smiled and then remembered the problem that Cody didn't even know existed. "When you get yourself together, come downstairs. There's something you need to know."

Moments later she was gone, and it was the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes that sent him scrambling out of bed and into his clothes, the jeweler's box for the moment forgotten.

The work island in the middle of the kitchen was between them when he walked into the room. From the nervous gestures of her hands and the way she kept looking away, he knew it wasn't good.

"What?" he said. "And for God's sake, honey, please don't be afraid. Whatever it is, you can always tell me."

The knot in the pit of her stomach began to unwind. She'd known it. She'd just needed to hear him say it. "Some man was bothering J.J. at school. He wasn't going to tell, but I overheard him talking to Will about it."

"Oh, hell," Cody said, and raked his hands through his hair. It was a parent's worst nightmare—the thought of a pervert touching their child. "What did you do?" he asked.

"I hugged him. After that, he told me everything, even down to the fact that the man's throat 'poked out' when he talked."

Cody managed a grin. "Thank God you were here."

"I went to the school today and told Stanley Brass. I didn't think this should wait until you got home."

Cody covered the space between them in seconds and pulled her into his arms. "Thank you, Queen. You did the right thing."

He kissed her cheek and tilted her face toward him, needing to assure her by action as well as words that she had his full support in whatever had to be done regarding his sons. If his plans went on schedule, before long they'd be her sons, too.

"There's more," she said, pulling out of his arms. Until she finished the story, she couldn't accept his gratitude when it might later turn into regret.

Cody waited.

"The man who bothered J.J… was asking about me."

Cody jerked. She felt his shock even though they were not touching. "What do you mean?"

His voice deepened, his posture changed. Queen could see him going on alert. "I mean, he was questioning J.J. about me, Cody. And today, after I left the school… I thought I was being followed."

"Damn!"

Cody spun, slamming his fist against the counter in a gesture of fear and frustration. Fear that once again Queen had been threatened, and as before, he'd been absent when it had occurred.

"Don't be mad," Queen said. "I couldn't bear it if you were…"

"Oh, honey." His voice was thick with regret as he slid his arms around her shoulders and rocked her against him. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I wasn't mad at you. I was mad at me. Every time someone I love is in danger, I'm not around."

She sighed. "I can't say I felt threatened. The man I saw ran away when he realized I had noticed him."

Cody's eyes narrowed, then grew cold. His mind began to race over all the possibilities. Could Virgil Stratton have had family that wanted revenge? Could someone from Queen's past…

"Queen?"

She looked at him, hearing the question coming before it was voiced.

"Did you have any enemies back in Cradle Creek? Was there someone who held a
grudge against you or any member of your family? Someone who might have—"

"No. I've already thought of that," Queen said. "And honestly, by the time I left, there wasn't one person in Cradle Creek who seemed to care about me one way or the other."

He shook his head, puzzled by the reason for this latest event.

"Cody, I don't think it was someone from my past."

He turned and stared at her. There was something in the way she said it that told him more was to come.

"I think it was someone from yours."

"The hell you say! No one from my past even knows you, honey… except Dennis
Macon, and I—"

"Your ex-mother-in-law hates the sight of me."

Cody grew still and then pale, and then when he could face her, she knew from the expression on his face that he'd just accepted the possibility.

"If she's behind this, I will personally wring her goddamned neck," he said. "How dare she frighten my sons? How dare she try to frighten and intimidate you because of me?"

"Now, Cody, I'm not saying it's true. It's just the only thing I can think of that makes any sense. Remember, J.J. didn't say the man tried to touch him or hurt him. He was just asking him about me."

She began to pace the floor between the table and the counter. "And today, when the man saw me, he didn't try to attack me. On the contrary, he ran like hell. I think I'm just under… what do you call it… observation?"

"I'm calling Abel."

Queen caught him before he could leave the room. "I think Stanley Brass has already done that."

"Then why the hell are you telling me, Queen? So we can just let it drop? Because if you are, I can tell you right here and now, I'm not about to let anyone come between us, and that includes any snoops Lenore might have hired."

"I'm telling you that we don't know anything for certain, and until we do, I suggest you not make a bad thing worse, that's all."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. For a long moment neither moved. And then she felt Cody sigh and felt the anger slide slowly from his body.

"Okay, my lady, for the time being, we do this your way. But so help me—"

"I already know what you're willing to do for me, love," she said. "I'm living proof of your promise to love and protect. I'm not likely to forget it… or Virgil Stratton."

He groaned and held her tight.

Soon they heard the boys' footsteps as they ran into the house.

"Yay! Dad's home!" They had seen his bag sitting by the door where he'd dropped it when he'd carried her inside.

He smiled down at Queen, kissed her quickly on her upturned nose, and then went to meet his sons.