Wicked Games (9 page)

Confused, she asked,
“What, Noah? What did you say?”

“Tell me w
hy you broke in my house. I need to know.”

She looked up into his eyes for a moment
, as she considered what she should do. She decided now was as good a time as any to give him the evidence she’d collected. She had already decided to give it to him in the morning, and to explain everything in detail to Noah and the guys before she went to Richard. She bent to pick up her shoe, reached inside, and brought out a flash drive. “For this,” she said, as she handed it to him. 

He knelt down in front of her, the moonlight streaming through the window directly onto her face. “What’s on it?”

“All the evidence you’ll ever need. Keep it somewhere safe. I - I really tried to help you, Noah.  I’m so sorry it wasn’t enough.”

He wa
nted to ask her what she meant. He wanted her to explain everything from start to finish.  But all he could think about was her being here in his house. After three long years of missing her, and she was in a guest bedroom instead of his bed. 

“It is password protected. The password
is…” she put the back of her hand up to her mouth, blinked back tears, and looked away from him. “The password is Sunny, with a capital S.”

Sunny
, short for Sunshine. When she was on the base with them and had earned their trust, she had playfully complained to them one day that they all had nicknames, but she didn’t have one. She felt left out.  They all got a good laugh out of it and Bull suggested they call her Sunshine, because she always had such a sunny outlook on everything.

“Sunny” stuck, it fit her. She claimed she didn’t like it, because some people thought they were calling her Sonny, as in a guy, which made everyone call her that even more. That was the night they all promised to take care of her, to be
her
brothers, just like they were to each other. As he looked at her tonight, he felt a squeezing in his chest that told him somewhere along the line, they had all let her down.

“
Bri…” his voice was soft and reminded her so much of how his voice used to sound when he said her name. 

“It’s only a
few hours until dawn, Noah. You should get some sleep. All of this will be over soon, and you’ll be able to put it all behind you. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but this really isn’t for me...”

She watched his face to gauge his reaction before she continued. “Please don’t tell my parents
anything about me coming back. I don’t want to hurt them more than I already have. I don’t think they could take burying me a second time.”  

The finality of her words was evident on
the distraught look on her face. He knew she intended to see this through to the end, to her end, just as she’d said. Regardless of how hurt and mad he was at her disappearance, he couldn’t deny her genuine anguish over everything. 

She was still the same person he fell
head over heels in love with so many years ago. She still put everyone ahead of her, she still loved him unconditionally, and she was willingly handing over all the documents she’d worked so hard to get. This didn’t feel like the actions of someone who was trying to play him.

He hooked one arm under her knees and the other
around her shoulders, and started to lift her off the guest bed. She pushed both hands against his chest and said, “Noah, no. You don’t have to do this… It’s ok, I get it. I’ve realized…I can’t go through with this now that I know you don’t love me. I thought we could pretend for just one night…but I can’t do it…I know it’ll only hurt worse.”

Brianna had no idea what he was thinking
, and his eyes didn’t let anything show. Her heart was breaking all over again, with his every touch, even just being in his presence. She knew he would never really accept that she stayed away because she loved him more than anything. And it broke her heart even more to know that by trading herself to Richard, she would die with him thinking badly of her. 

“Brianna, I can’t say that I agree with what you did. I don’t
…at all. You should’ve trusted me to protect you.”

With an exasperated breath
she said, “Noah, none of it was to protect
me
. I had to hide to protect
you
. Everyone who could’ve hurt you had to believe that I died in that explosion.” 

Her hand went up to his cheek and she lovingly stroked alone his jawline. Her
teary eyes held his, as she said, “I love you, Noah, more than anything, more than anyone. I’ve never stopped loving you. Not after I had to leave when I first met you in the desert, and I didn't stop loving you three years ago when I had to stay away from you to protect you. I’ve loved you with my whole heart every second that we’ve been apart. I hope that you can believe that….one day.”

“You’re not sleeping in here, Brianna.” With that, he picked her up
and carried her to his room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to breathe in his scent. She silently vowed she would cherish this moment, no matter how much it broke her heart, over and over again. As he sat her down next to his bed, he saw the deep love evident in her eyes, and they were searching his eyes for even a sliver of reciprocation.

He shook his head, never taking his eyes off hers, as he moved in to lightly kiss her lips.
His hand went up to her neck, his fingers lightly stroking downward, across her collarbone to the spaghetti strap of her tank top. He pushed it off her shoulder, and kissed her along the same line his fingers had trailed. He felt her shudder under his touch. He moved to the other side and started all over. As he raised his head, his hand moved to the back of her neck and into her hair. 

Grasping a handful of hair, he tilted her head
, and covered her mouth with his. Their kisses suddenly became feverish and urgent. Her hands flew to his chest, feeling his muscles tense and relax under her fingers. She unbuttoned his shirt one at a time, feeling every inch of him along the way, memorizing every line of his body as they went. Her fingers traced his six-pack abs to the top of his tuxedo pants and watched as they dropped to the floor. He removed his boxer briefs and stepped out of them, as she reached for him, pulling him close to her.

She felt his erection on her abdomen
, and her hand found his hard, thick length. She began to gently stroke him. He groaned and grabbed her hand to stop her. “Keep that up and this won’t last much longer.”

He quickly pulled her tank top over her head and bent as he pulled her panties to her ankles. He kissed and licked his way back up her body.
He picked her up and sat on the edge of the bed, with her in his lap while he gently stroked her face. 

He couldn’t stop the thoughts that were whirling through his mind.

…I lost everything…

…
She was protecting you…

…
I tried to help you….

…My life for
Noah’s…

“What is it, Noah?”
Brianna asked when he suddenly stopped what he was doing. Her heart squeezed, and she held her breath, expecting him to say he had changed his mind. That he couldn’t forgive her. That he didn’t want to spend the night with her.     

He sat her on the bed beside him and walked to the window. The glow from the lights outside cast beams across his naked body, showcasing his sinewy form.
One of his muscular arms was against the window, bent at the elbow, and his forehead rested on his forearm. Brianna felt exposed and rejected, sitting completely naked on his bed.
He changed his mind.
  She pulled the top sheet over her and waited for him to answer. 

“You
really would give up your life for mine, wouldn’t you, Bri?” The first slight hint of emotion was in his voice, just a hint that he was considering she had told him the truth.

“Yes.”
He noticed that she didn’t hesitate in her answer, at all.

He turned
to look at her for a moment, then walked back to her. The muscle in his jaw twitched and uneasy emotions played across his face. He knelt in front of her, pulling the sheet away from her, as his arms moved around her waist.

“You already did, didn’
t you? You gave up your life here to protect me. Like you tried to protect me in the car when you thought that guy was going to shoot me.” He wasn’t really asking as much as he was coming to a realization. But he waited for her to answer.

She hesitated before replying, knowing the questions that would come next. “Yes.”

“But,
why
? What am I missing?”

“
It’s a long story, Noah. But I will tell you
everything…
later. For
right now
, can you just believe me?”

“
One more thing that’s bothering me….”  She nodded, indicating for him to continue. “Why didn’t you trust
me
? Why didn’t you tell me what was going on back then? I would have helped you.” His tone wasn’t accusing or doubting her, she understood that he just really needed to know why.

“I did trust you, Noah
, I
do
trust you. And I tried to tell you…but you…you got mad whenever I brought up Richard’s name, and then that last day when I tried to tell you…. I wanted to tell you…but you were just so busy with work. Then I had to leave on assignment before you even got home that night…” her voice trailed off.

He sighed and laid his head in her lap. “
Yeah, that I remember…”
I remember that I was too wrapped up in myself to listen when you tried to talk to me.

She ran her fingers through his hair. It was longer now and curled slightly on the ends. She loved the feel of it
, as it moved across her hand. Her fingers made long, slow strides through it, caressing him as they moved. He straightened his back, still kneeling in front of her, face to face with her again after all this time apart. He pulled her hips closer to the edge of the bed as he kissed her, turning her head to deepen it. 

He moved closer, pushing her legs
further apart to make room for him to get closer. He ran his fingers along the taut lines of her stomach, remembering the feel of her Yoga-muscled body. He kept moving his hand down, between her legs, and his fingers found the warmth of her wetness. He felt his way along her folds, gently stroking her and savoring her soft moans.  His hand moved to her center, tracing her soft, wet folds before moving one finger inside her, then two fingers. The soft moaning sound she made was enough to drive him into a frenzy.

Slowly, torturously, his hand cupped her mound
, and the heel of his hand rubbed against her nub of pleasure nerves while his fingers moved in and out of her wetness. He felt her tremble as her hips rose to meet his hand. He knew her first orgasm was building and could feel her velvety walls constricting around his fingers, making his raging erection unbelievably harder. The soft skin of her delicate hand wrapped around him, stroking him from the base to the head. His hips voluntarily moved in time with her hand. His mouth covered hers again, and their tongues caressed each other.

Unable to wait any longer, he scooted her back on the bed
, then gently pushed her shoulders down, lying flat on the bed, as he covered her body with his.  He had planned to take it slow and savor every part of her, but his plans just flew out the window. She opened her legs to invite him in, and he held the tip of his long, hard thickness at her wet center. His hips pushed in and they both gasped. He stilled his hips, as his voice rumbled through his chest, “Baby, you’re so
fucking tight
. Am I hurting you?”

He pulled back to look at her face
, as she gasped, “No – don’t stop!
Please
,” as her hands moved down to push his hips further into her.

He moved slowly at first, giving her body time to adjust to him, mold around him
, and fit him like a glove. Then he increased his speed and thrusts. She moaned and raised her hips to match his thrusts, taking him to the hilt, and not letting him back down the intensity. “Oh, God, Noah! Don’t stop!” Her voice was like an aphrodisiac to him, pushing him on when he thought he would explode. 

He was propped up on his forearms, on either side of her head, his mouth crushing down on hers, his tongue diving in and taking what was rightfully his. 
What should have always been his. What he had missed for the last three years. His hunger for her was so deep, so primal. He knew he could never get enough of her.

She wrapped her legs around him, grinding her heels in his butt when he attempted to slow down.  She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
With every orgasm that rocked her body, the strong pull in her lower abdomen erupted in her screams, her inner walls were quivering and squeezing him, and he took her there over and over again. She had always been so responsive to his touch, but tonight the connection was even stronger. 

“I can’t hold back any longer
, Bri. Open your eyes – look at me.”

She did as he asked
, and he saw the tears that were held behind her lids roll down her face. He bent to kiss her. “Come with me. I want to feel you come again.”

He pushed up to straighten his arms and deepen his thrust, taking her over the edge of ecstasy with him. He watched her eyes and her face change as she let go and the squeezing in his chest nearly took his breath away. Bodies spent and sated, he relaxed his arms
, and simply lay with his massive body covering hers. When he started to roll over, knowing he was crushing her, she held on and refused to let him move.

He chuckled in her ear, “Bri, I know you can’t breathe.”

“I’m ok. I don’t want to let you go yet.”

He rolled over on his back, taking her with him
, so that she was lying completely on top of him. She turned her head to the side and rested on his chest.  He felt the warm tears pooling where her head lay.  “Are you ok? Did I hurt you?”

“No, you didn’t hurt me,” her voice was watery and strained, trying to talk through the tears.

“Then why are you crying?”

She sniffled
, but didn’t wipe her tears away.  “It’s just been so hard, to not see you, touch you, or hear your voice. Knowing that you were so close, but so far away. I’ve just been so alone…”

His hands were stroking her back, lovingly, patiently listening to her.
Not knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry
, Noah, for…all of it. I know that doesn’t make up for it.” 

The sun was rising before they went to sleep
.  They had made love twice more before they both passed out from exhaustion. Brianna knew she would sleep soundly for the first time in three years, safe and secure in Noah’s warm embrace. He spooned her from behind, draping his arm across her body possessively, keeping her as close to him as possible. 

              Just before he drifted off to sleep, he heard her whisper, “I love you, Noah. I always have and I always will. I hope you remember that.” 

*************

Noah felt a chill move over his body. He rolled over, his arm stretched out
to pull Brianna to him, but she wasn’t there. He opened his eyes and leaned up on his elbow, straining his ears to listen for any sound, thinking she may be in the bathroom. The faint smell of coffee, bacon, waffles and hot syrup wafted up to his bedroom, and he smiled. He loved her waffles. He had gained fifteen pounds when she first moved in with him. He pictured her in his kitchen, in her pajamas, dancing to the radio, as she cooked breakfast.

Pulling on his shorts, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. His stomach was rumbling from hunger and everything smelled so good. I
t felt good to have her home. It felt right. He knew there was still a lot to talk about and pieces of the puzzle he needed to find closure, but he couldn’t deny how glad he was to have her back. 

Bull and Rebel sat at his table, scarfing down the waffles and coffee
, as he made his way to the cabinet for a coffee mug. 

“Morning, boss.
Sleeping in, huh?” Bull and Rebel smiled at him and each other, shaking their heads and resuming stuffing their palette. Noah looked at the clock – 12:30. 

“Hey.” Looking around the kitchen
, then back to the table, he asked, “Where’s Brianna?”

They both stopped eating and looked at him.
They stared at him briefly before Rebel answered.  “Uh, we thought she was with you.”

“She was
, but she obviously made breakfast.  So…where is she?” He looked at each of the guys, who then looked at each other and back to him.

“Reap, she
was
down here. She cooked and talked to us for a few minutes, then said she was going back upstairs with
you
,” Rebel answered.

“How long ago has that been?”

“About an hour ago.”

Noah ran back upstairs,
calling her name, and looking through the bedrooms, closets and bathrooms.  She wasn’t there. He ran back down the stairs, and Rebel and Bull said they had checked the rest of the house, with no sign of her. Noah headed for the front door to check outside, and his heart dropped. He saw a white envelope taped to the door with his name on it, and tied around the oversized doorknob was the black blindfold from the desert – the symbol of her commitment to her brothers.

He strode to the door, jerked the envelope down and tore
it open.

Dear Noah,

This is the hardest letter I’ve ever had to write. You’re probably really mad at me right now, but I hope this letter answers all of your questions and that, in time, you will see I had to do this. I know you never really intended to trade me to Richard. You’re too good of a man to do that. But it’s the only way you’ll be protected. 

Richard was using you and your company to ship weapons illegally to terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Your security firm was the perfect front for them to transport weapons and get them into foreign countries. He set up the contracts with you, so that you’d take the blame if they ever got caught.  His name is not found on any of the official documents.

This operation
actually goes much farther up the chain of command than just Richard. The flash drive has the documents that prove your innocence and that Richard is coordinating the weapons drops. There are financial records with wire transfers to his offshore bank accounts that match the dates on every contract he made with you. When in doubt, follow the money. 

On
my last trip, Richard figured out I had proof, but I didn’t have it with me. I went into hiding after Richard tried to kill me. When Richard reappeared, I knew he would come after you to draw me out. The only reason he hasn’t killed me yet is because he needs those documents first. But now he’s sent someone to kill you to get the evidence from me. I know he won’t stop until you’re dead. 

T
he people involved won’t let this information ever see the light of day.  You’ll still take the fall and I won’t let that happen to you. I found one of your wires and activated the digital recorder.  Use the recording to stop him for good.  He won’t be protected once that hits the press. Then you’ll be safe and all this will be over.

Thank you for
giving me one last night together. I know you don’t love me anymore, and I understand why. You still made last night very special for me, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I’ve realized that I can’t live without you again – I don’t even want to try.  The only thing that has kept me going the last three years is the hope we would be together again someday.

I love
you, Noah. I love you more than anything. You are the best man I know, and I want you live a long and happy life. My only hope now is one day you will forgive me and remember only the good times we had. That’s what I’m taking with me. 

Forever Yours
,

Brianna

“
What the fuck is she thinking
?” Noah’s anger reached a flash point. “She isn’t trained for this. She’ll get herself killed!” He handed the letter to Bull and paced like a caged animal, ready to pounce and maul someone.

“What did she say this morning?”
Noah barked.

Rebel knew he would want a word-by-word relay of the conversation.

“She was cooking when we came in. She said good morning. We sat down and looked at the paper. I made a comment about how strange it was that she and Richard showed up the same day. That we were told she was dead and he was presumed dead. She asked what I meant by
presumed
dead. I told her about that US Marshal Stevens showing up here, saying they didn’t think Richard was on the plane, and that they thought terrorists may have kidnapped him, but they weren’t sure. And if he had been, he probably was dead, but there was no body. That’s when she said she was going back upstairs with you.”

Noah looked at Bull. “And you?”

Bull stared at her letter, still held in his hand, when he said, “I didn’t even speak to her, Reap.” 

“OK, she has a head start on us
, but we need to get a plan together. Call more guys in, our best, we have to find her. Send someone to her hotel room. Bull, you still have the key?” 

Bull nodded. 

“Good, have the area canvased. We have a recon mission on Richard to do. Find out where he is right now, where he’ll be later, who he’s with, his known contacts, recent financial transactions, his favorite food –
everything
.”

“You got it boss,” Rebel said
, already walking away to get started.

Bull walked outside, pulled out his cell phone, hit a quick dial key and waited. “
We need your help.”