Taking Flight (A Devereux Novel) (32 page)

A
loud
crash
thirty feet to my left
made me flinch. The gun went off in my hand with a loud crack and the recoil of
the handgun sent me reeling backward as I tried to see what happened.

Dozens of men in black body
armor
and helmets streamed in through the double doors.
They overwhelmed the two Russians and disarmed them almost instantly. Anton had
hit the ground and clutched his shoulder, screaming.

“Police! Get down on the ground!”

I dropped the gun and sank to my knees,
staring in disbelief as men rushed past and entered the hallway to the rest of
the building.

I
shot someone.
Numbness spread inside my chest, leaving me detached from
the action. I hadn’t meant to pull the trigger.

A man with a trimmed
mustache
and a vest with “Detective” emblazoned across the
chest approached. “Liberty
Tilset
?”

I nodded, unable to speak from the
overwhelming emotions that raged through my mind. Paramedics flooded onto the
scene and knelt next to Anton.

“I didn’t mean to shoot him.”

The detective’s sharp eyes flicked
between me, the photographer and the gun on the floor
.

“Don’t worry about that, Miss
Tilset
, he doesn’t look critical and we’ll make a case for
self defense. I’m Detective
Keely
, please come with
me,” he helped me to shaky feet and took my arm as he guided me out the front of
the building.

Too many police cars and SWAT vehicles
to count stood in the street outside the building. Sirens flashed from all
directions, almost blindingly bright. The detective walked me over to a tent
that looked like it had just been erected.

Inside stood Stephen.

“Oh, thank God. Liberty! Are you all
right?” He took me into his arms and held me tight. It felt like heaven after
the hell I had been through over the past two days. Tension drained from me as
I fought to release the pain and fear and depression from my body.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I can’t believe
you’re here. How did you find me?”

Stephen’s hand stroked the back of my
head, comforting me more than anything else could have. “It took a lot of good
work by the detective there. I’ll explain everything later, but the important
part is that you’re safe now.”

A blanket came from somewhere and
Stephen wrapped it around my shoulders, covering up my nearly naked body. After
so long dressed like that I’d forgotten I wasn’t appropriate.

As much as I never wanted to leave
Stephen’s arms, reality set in. Despite my protestations that I was fine,
paramedics ushered me into a waiting ambulance where they took my vitals and
ensured there was nothing wrong with me.

Only then was I cleared to sit with
Stephen in the command tent, wrapped in my blanket and with a mug of coffee.
Detective
Keely
had disappeared once more into the
building, and there were a few people in the tent coordinating the efforts of
the men inside the building.

By the time my examination was complete
the raid team secured the building. All that remained was to sort through the
prisoners and lock down the men who had been working for Paul.

“How were you able to track me down?” I
asked Stephen. “I want to know everything.”

“I got your messages after I met with
my friends the other night. I waited for you to tell me when you finished the
shoot, and it never happened.” He gave me a grim look. “It bothered me you
didn’t get in touch when you said you would, so I called and sent you a couple
messages but got nothing back. I didn’t want to play the overreacting jealous
boyfriend, so I let it go until the morning.

“When I couldn’t get a hold of you
then, I got worried. You’d never gone so long without answering my messages. I
checked with the staff at
Dorgo’s
, but no one had
seen or heard from you since the day before. After that I got a hold of Lacy
and we used the spare key you gave her to get into your apartment and saw you
weren’t there.”

He paused and grimaced.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Even though it turns out you were in
trouble, saying it all out loud makes me feel like the worst control freak. Not
hearing from you for half a day and I’m tracking down and interviewing everyone
you know.”

I took his hand in mine and kissed the
back of it. “Don’t worry about that. I told you I would call you and come over
that night, and then you didn’t hear from me at all. You were justified. And if
you hadn’t then I would be dead by now considering how things were going when
the police arrived on the scene.”

Stephen nodded. “Okay. So when we ran
out of places to look, I did the only thing I could think of short of calling
the police. I didn’t want to go there until I knew more, so I called one of my
friends at
Uber
and made him do something he could
get fired for—pull your account’s records. From that I got the address
you went to the night you vanished.”

“Thank God I use
Uber
instead of taxis,” I said. “Otherwise there would have been no trace. And you
called the police after that?”

“Uh, not exactly.” Stephen shifted. “I
went there myself.”

“What? Stephen! These guys were not
messing around, you could have ended up in the river with a cinder block tied
around your feet.”

“I know that now,” he said. “But I
still didn’t know for sure there was any foul play involved. When I went to
talk to them and ask where you were, they denied knowing who you were and said
you’d never been there. I didn’t press them too hard since I could tell they
wouldn’t hesitate to cause trouble, but it gave me enough to go to the police
and get them to start an investigation.”

“We aren’t at the warehouse where I
went for the
photoshoot
,” I pointed out. “How did
they figure out I was here?”

“Hard work, luck. Some guesswork. Your
phone was a dead end—they must have smashed it and left it somewhere
else. The detective went to the warehouse and asked questions, but they weren’t
giving anything away. There was no sign of you or any of your stuff, but it was
obvious they were hiding something. Detective
Keely
didn’t want to make arrests and ruin the possibility of them leading us to you,
so the police waited and tailed every person with any connection to the
warehouse.

“One man drove into this
neighborhood
but then the tail lost him. The police drove
up and down the streets for a while until they saw a bright red bra hanging out
a window on this building. It was suspicious enough to hang around. They camped
outside and sure enough soon they saw the photographer from the warehouse waltz
in. At that point it was just a matter of time to pull together the raid team
and then wait for the perfect moment to carry it out.

“When Paul Goldsmith showed up and
entered the building that was it—catching such a high-profile man inside
is a dream come true for the detectives working this case—you aren’t the
first model to disappear but the only one who left behind enough clues to
follow.”

“Wow,” I said. “Such a big mess. And if
I hadn’t tied that bra to the bars over my window, you might not have found me
in time.”

It didn’t bear thinking about. The
important thing was that I was safe, and I was back with Stephen.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s go home and
we can take your mind off it for a while.”

“
Stephen
?”

I walked into the penthouse kitchen and
found him chopping vegetables on the island.

“There’s my gorgeous lady,” he said,
smiling at me. “Good news?”

I’d just gotten back from a meeting at
the agency. I kept my face devoid of all expression.

Stephen’s smile faded. “Liberty? Is
everything all right?” He put the knife down.

I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“You’re looking at an agency model!” The grin I’d suppressed fought its way
onto my face and I bounced around the counter to jump into Stephen’s arms. “I
did it!”

He kissed me hard, his smooth lips
covering mine just the way I liked it.

“Congratulations baby,” he held my face
in his hands, the smell of peppers on his fingers an odd counterpoint to the
intimate moment. “I knew you would get it.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did you
bribe someone? Is that how you knew?”

His eyes widened in astonishment. “Of
course not! I knew you’d get it because you are devastatingly pretty and you
have an amazing body. They would be morons not to give you a contract.”

He sent a flutter of delight up my
spine. I would never tire of hearing the man of my dreams say those types of
words. “You know exactly what to say to put me in the mood.”

“Is that right?” He hugged me closer
against his chest. “Are you up for celebrating? It’s been a great week for you.
Between this and the case against Paul, everything’s coming up Liberty.”

I’d given my testimony two days before
against Paul, damning him as the kingpin of a massive human trafficking
network. The evidence stacked against him—the police raid had been so
swift that none of the criminals had enough warning to delete a single piece of
information off any of the computers in the building. The footage from the
cameras in the cell had all been present, including the feed from my
cell which
corroborated my version of events.

He was due to receive his sentencing
within a few weeks, and the expectation is that he would be locked away for
dozens of years if not life.

“It’s been a good week,” I
acknowledged. “Wrapping things up and putting them behind me, starting on new
paths.” I traced my finger down his chest. “I couldn’t be happier.”

“I’ve been so proud of you, Liberty,”
Stephen said. “I love you so much.”

The words raced through my body like a
gunshot—I’d never tire of hearing them. I pulled his head down to mine
and showed him exactly what I thought of that.

“I love you too,” I said when we broke
apart. “It’s still hard to believe you want me.”

“Of course I do,” he said. “How could I
not when you’re… you? One more thing—will you move in with me? I’d love
to have you here all the time.”

It was another no brainer. Stephen and
I had spent months together growing close and enjoying each other’s
company—physically and mentally. I loved my independence, but I spent
almost all my non-working hours here already. I could almost reach all four
walls of my tiny studio apartment from the middle of the room and spending any
time at all there made me feel claustrophobic.

“Yes, of course I’ll move in with you!”
I said. “Half my clothes are here anyway.”

He picked me up and set me on the edge
of the counter so that my head was level with his. I wrapped my legs around him
and pulled him close as we kissed deeply.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he
growled into my ear. “My model deserves to live in luxury.”

He moved his mouth to cover my neck,
and I gasped as he gently bit the soft skin hard enough to feel it but not
enough to leave a mark. He was a master at walking the fine line between pain
and pleasure.

Stephen ran his hands up my thighs,
dipping underneath the hem of the short dress I’d worn out. He gripped my ass
and lifted me off the counter, carrying me across the apartment to the master
bedroom, vegetables forgotten.

I clung to his neck and worked to get
his shirt off on the move, freeing it and throwing it to the floor in the
hallway. By the time I’d undone the top button on his pants he’d reached the
bed and tossed me on top, following like a lion stalking his prey.

Palms on the insides of my thighs
spread my legs, and the dress rode up to my waist to reveal the delicate
panties underneath.

I gripped his hair as he teased me,
nibbling the skin on either side of the lacy fabric and grasping my ass to pull
the cheeks apart ever so slightly.

I flung my head back against the bed as
he pulled the panties off, exposing me to his passion. His hot breath washed
over me moments before his tongue made contact.

“Stephen,” I breathed. Electric shocks
ran along my skin from where his mouth played over me, his tongue barely making
contact but still feeling impossibly good.

He spent long minutes between my legs,
taking his time building my passions into a roaring fire, riding the bucking of
my hips as he brought me to the edge and over. I pulled his head against me and
clamped my thighs against his ears as I came.

“Oh God! Right there! Don’t stop!”

Stephen always knew when to stop and
pull away before I became too sensitive. Waves of pleasure washed over me,
leaving me oblivious to anything else.

By the time I recovered enough to
gather my senses, Stephen had climbed on top of me and kissed me deeply. I ran
my hands along his back, feeling the powerful muscles ripple under his skin as
he held himself up.

“You are far too good at that,” I told
him when he broke the kiss. “You should give lessons to men less orally
gifted.”

“Is that right?” he asked. “Help make
the world a better place for women everywhere?”

I grinned. “It might bring on world
peace. If everyone felt this good all the time, what would anyone have to get
angry about?”

As I spoke Stephen lined himself up
with my entrance and spread me apart with his manhood.

“Oh! Fuck, that feels so good.”

We had done away with condoms early in
the relationship, and I was grateful every time we had sex. The sensuous
feeling of smooth skin sliding against each other was heavenly. Already primed
by his tongue, his cock slid inside without a hitch.

“I love feeling you wrapped tight
around me,” Stephen said, his low voice throbbing in my ear. He pressed deeper,
so that his pubic bone pressed up against my clit and his head reached deep
inside of me.

I moaned in agreement and slid my hands
down so I could urge him on with my hands. He pumped inside of me and covered
my neck with his mouth until I lost myself in a sea of sensation.

We rose together, driving each other
higher with touches, moans and words.

Stephen stared into my eyes as the peak
drew near. “You’re mine, Liberty.”

His words pushed me over the edge, the
raw power and possessiveness of his voice leaving no doubt.

I nodded back as I came. “Take me,
Stephen!”

After a few more hard thrusts, Stephen
slammed his hips against mine and drove himself to the hilt inside of me. His
cock grew even thicker and pulsed, the warmth of his seed filling me and
feeling like nothing else could.

He collapsed on top of me—not
heavy enough to crush me but his body covering me in a comforting way.

“I love you,” I said when I caught my
breath.

He raised himself enough to look at my
face. His eyes were dark and intense. “I love you too, Liberty. So much more
than I can express.”