a Touch of Intrigue (22 page)

He kept a tight hold on my hand when I faced the couple who’d taken such good care of me as a child. “There are so many things for you to explain, and although we urgently need information from you, my head isn’t clear enough to process either the right questions or your answers.”

I glanced at Pierce. He nodded, and my heart filled with gratitude and love. We’d mastered silent communication, and as screwed up as I was, I cherished the incredibly special bond we shared, one I promised myself I’d always treat with utmost respect, no matter how pissed off I was about his connection to Fred.

There was so much random information bombarding my head that it took a minute to sift through and eliminate what should be addressed later. I limited myself to a basic suggestion. “How about we take six hours to regroup?”

Nods all around, except for Whitney.

She tapped Pierce on the shoulder. “You cleared Fred’s chopper for a round trip?”

“Yeah.” His tone was equivalent to an eye roll.

“I’ll be off, then. Don’t want to twist up his knickers.” She tossed a wave at the assembled group, and climbed into the chopper.

“Why not keep the damn helicopter?” I sounded snarky, but I’d been through a lot and it would make a nice prize.

Pierce squeezed my shoulder. “Government gets testy when they lose multi-million dollar equipment.”

Yeah. Whoever Fred’s boss was, they probably wouldn’t let that slip by without chasing me…us down. We hit the access stairway and made our way into the cottage, Millie and Harlan sandwiched between Pierce and me. Protection? Lack of trust? I wasn’t sure, but it was surreal, entering their home with them in tow.

I began to second-guess my plan to regroup. True, we could safely take a few hours for me get the mud off and for everyone to grab a nap without jeopardizing the welfare of humanity. Unless… “Did you find Ghost Guy?”

Pierce shot me a glance over Millie and Harlan’s heads, his lips pinched tight, then let out a patented grunt. The one that clearly said, “Later.”

We all strolled into Millie’s kitchen, and she twirled around like a six-year-old. “It’s so good to be home.” She opened the refrigerator and peered inside, then turned to face me. “You found the soup. Good.”

Harlan strolled up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Let’s send our children home, Mils. We need to get some rest before tomorrow.”

She leaned her head back, resting against his chest. “I know. It’s just so good to be back in my kitchen. We’re about out of groceries, but I have two dozen eggs, and there’s plenty of sausage in the freezer to make up a breakfast casserole.”

Straightening, she eyed me with the “mother” look I’d seen so often while growing up. “We were on our way to the store when Fred showed up to collect us. Harlan and I, we’ve always found it best to follow Fred’s plan until we learn what he’s up to. Better to be knowing what he’s about than not.”

Harlan planted a kiss on the top of Millie’s head. “Let’s be waiting to discuss that until tomorrow. Our girl is lookin’ a might worse for wear.”

There was a twinkle in his eye, and I suspected he wanted some time alone with Millie after being under Fred-watch for a few days. “Harlan is right. We all need rest before we tackle our next move.” But there was one question burning a hole in my curiosity that I couldn’t hold in a second longer. “Oh, and you should know, Millie, that Pierce’s parents are here. Siofra and Lorcán are staying with us, and she’ll be working on my mother’s formula along with us. I understand that you know the components of it and how to create it. Is that right?”

Millie paled, and sagged against Harlan. “I do, child, but I do
not
know the amount of each plant to include. I’ve done many trials since Loyria and James were killed, but none of them have had either lethal or healing capability. I’m grateful for Mrs. Pierce and her help, because this recent encounter with Fred has made it clear he won’t rest until he has complete control of Loyria’s discovery.”

Pierce secured my hand in a tight grip. “Home. Discussion tomorrow.” My guy’s patience had obviously run out.

We left with Millie and Harlan’s promise to show up at our house at dawn. It didn’t give us much time to recharge, but the responsibility of destroying the formula forever weighed heavy on me. Pierce handed me a penlight. “To quote you, Belisama, a sprained ankle would suck.”

I started to ask Pierce about his connection to Fred and Ghost Guy, but he was heads-down over his phone, and typing at a rapid rate. Best to put my question on pause. When he pocketed his phone, I stopped walking and gave him a quick kiss, then backed away before he could respond. “I have mud all over my face, and it tastes crappy so no reason to share. You did place a guard on Millie and Harlan, right?”

“They’re under surveillance.” He tapped his phone. “I set up alarms if anyone leaves or enters the cottage.”

Some of my tension eased, but I still held buckets of resentment. “How much of my little adventure did you plan with Fred?”

His grin was zombie-like in the blue glow of the penlight. “All of it.”

TWENTY-ONE

MY RESPONSE WAS AUTOMATIC. I
executed a Whitney-move that I’d perfected with multiple months of mat time, and Pierce landed on the ground the breath knocked out of him.

I stood over him, glaring. “That wasn’t the answer I expected, but it was the one I dreaded.”

When he managed to suck in a breath, I offered him my hand—not the one holding the penlight.

He sat, then took my hand. “Love you, Belisama. You’ll be teaching me that move next time we spar.”

That’s what he thought. It was the one and only move in my arsenal that he hadn’t mastered years before I’d stepped onto a mat for the first time. It was mine, and would stay mine.

Tynan yanked the penlight from my hand, tossed me over his shoulder, and moved into an easy jog.

Shit. How come I was the one in trouble when he was the one who’d conspired with the likes of Fred?

“First, payback is a bitch. And that’s two I owe you. Second, seems I gotta have you over my shoulder to keep your attention. Talking to you, here, Everly so listen up.”

Talking to me, was he. He had more ’splainin’ to do than Lucille Ball on her worst day. I held very still, listening with my eyes closed, the way Siofra had taught me that morning. Morning? Damn, but it felt like fifty fricking years ago.

Pierce pinched my butt. “We agreed you needed field training. I’m the best. Fred’s second., and a fucking genius. Best manipulator I’ve met. That formula is a political hot button, so requires precise and careful manipulation or your life is worth shit. Yeah, I worked with Fred. No question he’s a bastard, but fucking over humanity isn’t his agenda. He can’t stop war or politics, but he can damn well screw with the agenda of the people who can.”

He’d just spewed more words in a single discussion than ever before. That factoid cued me in to take careful note. I’d heard his words, liked them, even agreed with them, but I wasn’t ready to let go of my anger quite yet. “You could have told me this
before
I shipped out with Fred.”

“No. Fieldwork is planned and practiced until it’s second nature, but it happens on the fly. Changes with the wind.”

Pierce had moved out of the woods and was navigating the maze around our house. The pool water called to me. And I’d heard the truth and sincerity in Tynan’s words. And the love. There was something more there, a question I couldn’t identify, but it wasn’t raising a physical or energetic warning, so I let go of the topic, ready to move on to Ghost Guy.

“You could put me down now.”

I got the like-hell-sweet-cheeks grunt. Which probably had a secondary meaning about tossing me in our pool. That worked for me. The caked mud was becoming downright unbearable, and itched like the devil. “I like being clean.”

Pierce’s laugh echoed through the maze. “Got that, Hot Shot.”

He picked up his pace, bouncing me uncomfortably as he ran—through the end of the maze, and into the wooded area surrounding our natural pool. He had to slow down because the foliage was thicker, and it gave him time to work his hand between us, free the button on my cargoes, and slide the zipper down.

I couldn’t reach a thing he wore except the back of his t-shirt, so I yanked it free of his pants. He lowered me to the ground, cradled my cheeks and looked deeply into my eyes for a long moment, then squatted down to untie the laces on my hiking boots. “Gonna want a new pair of these.”

Yep. No question there. “I don’t ever want to see any of these clothes again. No telling what creepy crawlies have nested in them.”

Pierce ripped my Velcro knife sheath off, set it on the ground, then helped me out of my boots and socks, and tossed them aside.

Reality crept into my hormone-drenched brain. “Damn it all. I left my go-bag on the helicopter. Do you think Whitney will spot it?”

“Maybe. Anything critical inside?”

Pierce had stripped off my cargoes and underwear, and the soft Hawaiian breeze shivered over my bare, mud-caked legs. Clean. I wanted to be clean before sex. “No. My weapons are both here. Would you hand me the .380? Then we can toss the clothes.”

I wanted my brain to shift from mission-mode back into sex-mode. Best way to do that—Stripping him bare. The t-shirt went first. This game was best played with two active participants. Pierce smiled, expectant male written all over it, and then handed me the gun.

I bent to place it next to the knife holster, and on my way up, stopped to peel his pants off. “You, my love, are a perfect male specimen.” I ogled him shamelessly.

He helped me into the pool, and took his time washing the mud off, sending it back into nature. Our pool was spring-fed with sun-warmed water that lapped over us, caressed us. It was my happy place. And there was nothing on earth more intensely beautiful than sharing my body with Tynan. I loved him with my touch, sharing my heart, and connecting our souls.

PIERCE KISSED ME AWAKE WHEN
the first colors of dawn spread across the sky. “Love waking up with you, Belisama.”

“Me. You. Too.” It was the best I could manage with my sleep-soggy mind.

His hand brushed over my ribs, then moved into a tickle.

“No. Can’t be morning.”

He slipped out of our sun porch bed, and lifted me into his arms. “You get forty-five seconds prep time.”

Prep time? Before? Damn it. He was going to toss me into the shower. I fought through a bleary-eyed dislike of morning, forced my eyes open, and panic set it. I squeezed my eyes shut. Tight. “Your parents. We’re naked. And you’re walking through the middle of the house.”

“Got it in one, Hot Shot.”

The scent of Siofra’s special Indian coffee wafted from the kitchen. “Oh, holy mother of the goddesses, tell me your mother isn’t watching us from the kitchen.”

He took pity on me. “They’re on the front porch having coffee.”

Time to open my eyes and face the day. Pierce turned into our bedroom, then kicked the door closed behind him. He set me on my feet next to the shower, turned it on, and adjusted the water. “Keep it short. Millie and Harlan are on the way.”

He strolled into the bedroom.

“Aren’t you showering?”

“Other bathroom. Faster.”

It was an excellent point. There was no way we’d be able to shower together without…playing. I stepped under the spray, shampooed the remains of yesterday out of my hair, used my favorite sea salt scrub to wash, and was dried and dressed in five minutes. No time to mess with my hair, so I piled it, wet, into a topknot, and then headed for the kitchen and a badly needed cup of Siofra’s coffee.

I topped off two mugs just as Pierce joined me, and handed him one. “Are we ready for this?”

“No choice.” He sipped his coffee, then trailed his finger down my cheek. “I’ve got your back, Everly.”

And that’s all it took for everything to be okay, no matter how it turned out.

Mille and Harlan knocked on the kitchen door at the same time Siofra and Lorcán joined us from the front porch. “Should I make another batch of my special coffee before we get started?” Siofra asked.

Millie inched her way between Siofra and me. “What is that incredible fragrance?” She turned to face Siofra. “I’m terribly sorry. How rude of me.” She offered her hand, then jerked it back. “It’s not…I’m not…I’m Millie, and that’s my husband, Harlan. We were Everly’s guardians during her childhood. And you must be Tynan’s parents.”

Siofra cradled Millie’s hands. “Yes we are. The pain must have been unbearable, but the scars are a true testament to your strength and courage.”

Tears trailed over Millie’s cheeks. I hugged her, then pressed a tissue into her hands. “It’s good to have you home, Millie.”

Harlan had set a casserole dish on the counter, and then exchanged some sort of complex handshake with Lorcán. They seemed comfortable with each other’s measure. All four of them.

I scooted next to Pierce, and rested my head against his upper arm. “Looks like we have a family.”

He blew out a soft chuckle, then cleared his throat. Loudly. “Let’s get this family meeting underway.”

“Go ahead,” Siofra said, keeping a tight hold on Millie’s hand. We’ll be listening while we whip up a fresh batch of coffee to go with the casserole.”