Saints and Assassins (The Sentinels) (17 page)

She didn’t drink much wine
he noticed and wondered if she was just
trying to make sure that she didn’t
miss anything
.

“Can I ask you some questions about yourself?”

Adam smiled down at her lying there in his arms.
It was her turn to find out about him
and deep inside of him, the idea of her knowing him made his pulse race.

“Of course, but for every question I want something in return.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

Eve turned to face him and her gaze narrowed. “What
.
” she demanded.

“A kiss. I want a kiss for every answer.” Adam couldn’t help but look down over her naked body in the moonlight.

“
Are you trying to avoid talking?”

He shook his head grinning at her.
“What’s your first question?”
Adam waited patiently as Eve mentally selected her first question. Her eyes
softened
slightly a
nd just as she pursed
her lips,
she relaxed
them
and
finally spoke.

“What is your middle name?”
Adam laughed and thought that he could handle
those
kind of questions.

“Benjamin, after my uncle.
”

“What inspired . . .” Eve
started, but Adam stopped her by pressing his finger to her lips.

“Nope. You owe me a kiss first.” She leaned into him and gave him what he asked. Even after spending the entire day together her taste still enthralled him.

Slowly, he pulled his mouth from hers.

“Mmmm,” she moaned. “
Anyway, I was going to ask you what inspired the dragon?”

“Ohhhh. Well, I’ve always liked the myths that surround dragons and could only imagine what it would be like to fly like one. So
,
I had this done a few years ago.
I thought it would
masque
these scars as well
.
”
Adam touched his bicep so that Eve could see where the scars were
. She ran her fingers over
them, he could see the next question brewing in her eyes,
and he thought it would be about the scars.

“I see.
Next question
.”

Adam opened his mouth to remind her of their agreement, but Eve pressed her lips to his before he could speak. He wasn’t trying to
avoid giving
any answers but their kiss lasted long enough that he forgot their little game when Eve sprung the next question on him.

“Do you
think you
love me?” Eve whispered into his ear. Adam thought that he might have heard her wrong with the waves crashing against the boat.

“I, I—
” he stammered.
His heart beat hard in his throat as he contemplated telling her the truth. Would she reject him? Would she think he was crazy?

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have asked
that
question.”
Eve slid away from his face and before A
dam could stop
her,
she stood up and walked a few steps away.

Adam jumped to his feet
and walked around Eve so that he could face her.
The question floored him and he still didn’t know what to say. Her rejection would kill him.

“You don’t have to answer. I don’t know what I was thinking asking such a stupid question. Let’s just move on to another topic
.
”
Staring at the ocean, she
would not
look at him. He actually thought she looked disappointed and the only thing he could think to do was to kiss her. Gripping her
shoulders,
he pulled her against him.

The taste of her drove his senses wild. He wanted to taste every square inch of her body. His cock throbbed for her. Adam slid his hands from her shoulders up her throat and cradled her face in his hands as his tongue continued to invade her. Finally, he let out a sigh as he relinquished his grip on her.

Smiling as he slid his mouth along her jaw, she giggled.
“Any other questions?” he whispered.

“Yes actually,
just one for right now. Will you take me to bed
?”
             

****

Morning came and she woke up to find the other half of the bed empty. Eve put his shirt back on and walked out toward the galley. Her muscles were stiff s
he noticed and
she smiled to herself. She hadn’t felt like this in years.

Adam wasn’t in the galley
,
he must be up top
,
she thought. She decided to use the bathroom first before going up. As she washed her
face,
she
heard a loud thump above her and jumped.

She glanced down to see that the pistol was still there and was immediately worried about what was happening so sh
e
picked it up and slowly opened the bathroom door.

Slowly, she made her way to the
stairs
and climbed toward
the wheelhouse. There was another noise above her. It sounded like someone falling to the ground, or so she imagined. H
er body trembling with fear
,
she wanted to yell for Adam but didn’t. She had to be careful not to cause him any harm if there was someone else on board.

S
he crept up the stairs until she had a clear view to the bow of th
e boat. The deck appeared clear so
if someone was in the wheelho
use besides Adam, she couldn’t
tell.

She had to continue.

As she did
,
she heard a voice and it definit
ely didn’t sound like Adam. Unable to hear the muddled words, she peered
over the railing
.
Suddenly she saw a figure in the far window, it was a man and
he faced
t
he opposite direction. S
he stood up en
ough to look for Adam and spied him on the floor
unconscious. She gasped and quickly ducked back down. She had to do something.

There w
as a wine bottle sitting nearby
from the night before. Picking it up
,
she threw it toward the stern of the ship. It broke as it hit the inside of the hull. The man inside the wheelhouse turned suddenly and bolted out the door. Eve immediately aimed the pistol at him and yelled.

“Hey!” As he turned toward her she could see that he had a weapon, without hesitation she fired the gun that she held in her hands. Her eyes had closed as the recoil of the gun surprised her, she didn’t
know how, but the bullet hit him.
She had only discharged a gun a few times wi
th Michael at the firing ran
ge and hadn’t been the best aim
.

He fell to the ground so she ran over toward him, gun still aimed. “Raise your hands!” she screamed. Eve could see that his gun had fallen from his hand but was still within reach.

“I said raise your hands or I’ll shoot again!” The bullet had exited the man’s bod
y on his lower right side.

He turned over slowly and raised his hands.
The man had longer, curly blond hair and built like Adam. She knew with her quick assessment that he was not going to play nice.

“Don’t move!” she shouted
.
She turned to see if there was any movement from Adam
.

“Adam!” she called. “Adam, can you hear me?” He didn’t
move. As she looked back at the man
, he had retrieved his gun and had it aimed at her, he
swept her feet out from under her
with one swoop of his leg, knocking her to the ground.

Her head hit the deck
hard, and she became disoriented.
He
was on her, pinning her body as he bound her wrists together.

“Please just leave Adam alone, take me and leave
him,” she cried.
With a painful grip
,
he grasped her jaw in his hand and squeezed. She tried to fi
ght, but he had her immobilized.

“
They
don’t want him. It’s you that they want,” he growled.

Eve struggled to move and couldn’t manage to get any leverage against his grip. Then, just as she had given up fighting, she heard a ferocious roar. Within a split second, a blur of movement tore the man away from her.

Adam knocked the assassin down and proceeded to punch him. He got in two solid punches before the man flipped Adam over him, which Eve noted had to have been quite the feat considering Adam’s size. The assassin’s nose bled profusely, but he continued to fight.

Throwing another punch at Adam, proved to be his undoing, though.

Adam dodged at the man’s attempt and as the assassin faltered, Adam took advantage. Spinning around, Adam grabbed the man from behind. With
a quick jerk, the man’s head drooped and Adam let the body slide to the boat deck.

Eve watched as the lifeless body, slumped into a pile. He was dead.

Adam had broken the assassin’s neck in order to protect her.

Throwing her arms over his head, she clung to him. Her fear was dissipating, but the adrenaline rush had her head spinning and she couldn’t move.

“You’re safe,” he whispered. 

The sound of his voice brought her back.

Leaning back slightly, Eve saw Adam’s eyes were wide and it reminded her of a child
that had lost something of great value to them. Before she could speak, Adam sighed.

“
I’m sorry I haven’t done a better job at protecting you. That’s almost twice that they’ve killed you.”
He had protected her and she
could not
have been more grateful.

“Don’t do that.
” Eve grew frustrated that he thought he hadn’t protected her. He had saved her at least three times.
“
I’m alive aren’t I?” she hissed at him.

Adam nodded and closed his eyes. He pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment before speaking.

He then explained that they had to get rid of the body, he check
ed all of his pockets for any I.D.
or other evidence of any kind. They were going to set it on fire before they took off, which is exactly what they did. Adam held her in his arms as he steered. She rested her head against his chest. Once they were miles
away,
Adam stopped the boat.

“Okay
, we need to figure out what we’re going to do.
We should have a little time before they send someone else.
”

“
They’ll send more?” Eve asked.

Adam nodded.
The weight of that news came down on her shoulders like a yoke and
she
wanted it off.

“
I don’t care what we do
. W
e can go wherever you want to go, just as long as we
’re together.” She stared up
into his eyes. That deep mysterious brown
turned almost black
. It made her afraid.

“I won’t be going anywhere without you, but we can’t go back to Chicago
yet so you
can’t go home,” he told her.

“
I hate C
hicago anyway, it’s too cold,” s
he said with a smirk. He smiled and kissed her lightly.

He winced momentarily.

“You’re not okay.” She scowled at him.

“Just a little dizzy and I’ve got one hell of a headache.”
She c
hecked his pupils and alertness and
wasn’t too worried about him slipping into a coma so she coerced him to go below and lie down.
She had proved herself capable of using a gun to defend herself.

“I’ll wake you in a couple hours. Normal protocol
,” she said softly as she tucked him in bed.

“Why don’t you stay with me?” Adam pulled her on top of him.

Eve rolled her eyes as he tried to change her mind.

“You are definitely nothing but trouble.” Eve pressed her body against his as a tease.

Adam moaned.

“But, I have to go
up
, while you stay
down
.” Eve made sure to emphasize her words carefully. She knew that h
e needed some more rest from the blood loss
and the over exertion
from the last twenty-four hours of non-stop sex.
That only caused a deep groan from him as he rolled over.