Elemental: Earth (7 page)

She pulled his head down to her, letting his hair tickle her nipples and brush her chest. She slid her hands under the waistband of Gavin’s boxers, and felt a raised circle low on his hips.

She traced it a bit, knowing it was what she had seen in her vision earlier in the evening. For some reason, she wasn’t scared, though, and it wasn’t because the alcohol had made her intrepid. In fact, she took solace in the fact that she knew it was going to be there when she felt it.

Then, she moved her hands lower, gripping buttocks she knew looked as beautiful as they felt, chiseled with a dimple on each side, muscular and round. Gavin flexed beneath her hands, and Tessa giggled. Then his head raised and his lips found her nipple.

Slowly and tentatively, his tongue circled and licked. His fingers stroked her side and wandered to the other nipple to lightly circle and pinch. Tessa allowed a small moan to escape. It had been far too long for her. She felt like a cracking desert begging, praying for a satiating rain.

Gavin’s lips wandered down onto her rib cage, then her belly button, where they stopped to lick and kiss. He shifted his weight so that he could cup her ass and smiled at the fact that it could almost fit in only one of his hands. Then his fingers closed and he pulled at her panties off, slowly sliding them down her legs. She helped him by raising her hips, and before she knew it, Tessa could feel his hot breathing between her legs.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tessa asked. “I haven’t showered, and I worked up a good sweat on that dance floor tonight.”

“Then you’ll be nice and salty,” Gavin answered. He didn’t want to waste any time, not a second. Besides, he could already smell her, and her essence, raw and earthy, smelled more delicious than anything he’d ever smelled. He ached, not just with desire but with need. He shifted her petite body up a bit higher onto the bed and lowered his mouth to kiss her gently. She smelled like the ocean and the earth in one. He felt high, or what he imagined people felt when they were high. He relaxed his shoulders a bit as Tessa allowed him to go deeper. His tongue explored and licked every part it found, sending ripples of ecstatic sensations throughout Tessa’s body.

She arched her body as she received his oral affection, and allowed herself to go to a place long forgotten. She moved under him and with him, in sync with the kisses and licks from his mouth. He nibbled and stroked with his tongue, causing Tessa’s nipples to harden. Gavin, himself already hard, throbbed with yearning.

Suddenly, she came, and Gavin lapped up as much of her wetness as he could, heady with his drink.

Gasping for air, she smiled as she tried to stabilize her shuddering body from the aftershocks she kept feeling. Quickly, he swept her off the bed, put himself underneath her, and propped her up astride his legs. His erection waited there for her hands, and she took him softly and stroked, a little bit of his juice escaping. Licking her fingers, she held eye contact with Gavin before lowering her lips to his chest.

“I want you inside me,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?” Gavin asked, but he could see into her dark brown eyes full of desire and truth. Her aura was a clear red outlined in a metallic gold, signaling to him that her passion was powerful and spiritual as well. That was all the evidence he needed.

Tessa reached into the drawer beside the bed for a condom, unwrapped it, and gently rolled it onto Gavin’s penis.

“Can I get a ride?” she asked with a feigned innocence.

Gavin responded by grabbing her by her hips and resituating her up onto himself. He slid easily inside her, like he was made for her, like they were meant to be, and immediately he knew it wouldn’t take long.

He began the slow rocking, and Tessa responded in turn. The moans escaping her lips made Gavin increase his speed just slightly. His fingers gripped her buttocks.

He never closed his eyes. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of Tessa astride him, her shoulders and back arched, thrusting her breasts forward. She tilted her head back allowing her dark, chocolate-brown hair to fall farther, brushing Gavin’s fingers around her buttocks.

“Yes,” Tessa said slowly. “Yesssssssss.”

Gavin built up quickly to his release, the timing perfect for them to climax together, a sensation of shooting stars within their bodies.

Tessa sat still, allowing herself to enjoy the last quivers beneath her. Then together with an unspoken language, she and Gavin tilted the same direction, gently depositing Tessa onto the bed and rolling Gavin onto his stomach, still looking into her eyes.

Suddenly, Tessa found herself transported. It felt like what she imagined an out-of-body experience would be. She and Gavin were facing each other, naked and glistening with sweat, but they were not in her bedroom. They were in a mystical, ethereal pavilion of trees and flowers. The sunlight glowed pink through the trees, and she felt the sensation of rose petals beneath her. Dragonflies, butterflies, and honeybees danced around them darting, some lighting on her fingers and nose as gentle as a kiss.

Gavin smiled at her a little shyly, and his entire being flickered softly, a hue of greens surrounding him.

“What. . .,” Tessa began. But as quickly as it all appeared, it was gone. She looked around questioningly at the rumpled bed sheets and the tiny room back in Argentina.

“That was incredible,” Gavin said, trying to distract her a bit. he’d never experienced that before, either. Sure, he’d made love to women before, but that whole time-warp-to-a-new-world thing had never occurred. He wasn’t sure what it meant, either, and he didn’t like the feeling of not knowing and not being in control of the situation.

Neither Tessa nor Gavin said anything. In each others’ eyes, they each knew the other had shared the experience, but neither of them could bring him/herself to verbalize anything about it.

So, they lay there, caressing and outlining each other for a few luxurious moments.

“What was that?” Tessa asked when she was finally able to form the question.

“That is what some call ‘sex’ or ‘making love’ or if you’re more crass ‘getting laid’ . . .,” Gavin said, trying for humor to distract her.

“You didn’t experience it? The forest-thing? We were both there that I saw. It was a type of sanctuary in nature, but it seemed magical, not quite real.” Tessa was a little shaken. She began to wonder if somehow something was slipped into her drink earlier in the evening. Am I that drunk? What if some hallucinogenic is in my system, she thought? I can’t lose my edge. I can’t let him have the upper hand.

Gavin could sense that Tessa was a little scared. He knew what she was feeling, and for people like him and Tessa, a loss of control with unexplained phenomena was the worst place to be. So he relented.

“I don’t know what that was, but it was freaking awesome!” He could see her relax but only barely. His mind was working quickly. He knew that she knew who he really was. Should he come out right now? Should he call her bluff? How was he going to explain this in some logical way when he didn’t understand it himself, and he knew that she was the one hunting him?

Around three A.M., Tessa awoke to an empty bed, a dry mouth, and the threat of a headache. She frowned at the empty side of her bed and rolled over to plant her face right where Gavin had been. She inhaled a rich aroma of minerals and spices edged with the smell of a forest. No man had ever smelled as intoxicating to her as Gavin. At the first sniff, she was reminded of their evening together. After a short break, Gavin had aroused Tessa again literally with one finger, and she had been ready at his first touch. She remembered wondering if a woman could pass out from having too many orgasms too quickly and what the record was for the most in one night.

And after he’d entered her again and climaxed with her, their bodies and minds in sync, they found themselves in the ‘other world’ again only this time, her body felt ethereal and less human. She felt as if both she and Gavin were made of a fine granular substance, much like sand, each molecule melding into the others’ molecules, sifting and shifting to become one instead of remaining two.

But now, her heart sank at the thought that Gavin had left her sometime shortly after all of that. She had wanted him to be different. She knew he was different. Then, why this ‘typical guy’ move? Why leave? Something happened, she thought. Gavin isn’t like that. Mentally, she slapped herself in the forehead. Why would she think like that?

The silence of the house was interrupted by a loud thump followed by whispered cursing and some giggling. Tessa reached under the mattress for her gun as she simultaneously rolled off the bed and grabbed her robe off the stool in the corner. She wasn’t worried. She was pretty sure that it was one of the other three, but one can only be so sure. The girls had been warned about the recent state of Argentina as the drug lords began to control this once untouched country. Violence, murder, and cocaine had risen astronomically, and this unrest created an unstable environment, especially for gringas and policia.

Her mood only worsened when she walked out into the darkness only to see the shape of two people on the ground obviously making out quiet passionately.

“Well good morning to you two,” Tessa greeted them sarcastically. “It’s nice to see at least one of the Fuerza brothers has at least some hope for growing up into a real man.”

Gillian sat up quickly trying to pull her blouse back on. Dallas slowly grabbed his t-shirt, in no hurry to cover his broad tanned shoulders and intensely perfect six-pack-abs. In fact, he walked right up to Tessa, barely brushed his chest against Tessa’s, and lightly grasped the gun, taking it from her hand.

“I’m the last great hope.” He smiled. “But if you’re holding out hope for another Fuerza to prove himself as much a gentleman as I am, I’d say you’re going to be hoping for a long time.”

“No shit,” Tessa mumbled. “So, did the asshole gene skip you?”

“Tessa!” Gillian jumped up as quickly as she could after all of the drinks she’d had at the bar. She was still a little disheveled but at least fully covered and beginning to sober. What really amazed her, though, wasn’t the hostility after what looked as if it promised to be a great night for Tessa and Gavin. Something must have gone really wrong. “Dallas didn’t do anything to you. And we didn’t mean to startle you.”

She knew Gillian was right, and she knew she was taking out her anger—and her headache-- on the both of them, but she couldn’t help it. She was pissed, and seeing the two of them cuddling romantically made her even more mad. She was supposed to be doing that too. . . with Gavin. Did last night mean absolutely nothing to him? What about that whole ‘other world’ experience?

Gillian walked around to Tessa, grabbed her hand, and pulled her gently away. “What happened,” she whispered to Tessa. “We all got the impression that everything was fireworks between you and Gavin. Didn’t you leave the bar with him? Did something go wrong?”

Tessa could tell Gillian was truly concerned, but she didn’t want to hash through it all right now. Besides, she had to check in with Zinsser. Obviously, the cleanup crew could not come in and do their job. They can’t collect what isn’t there, and she had no idea where Gavin was. She dreaded reporting to Zinsser, but if she waited too late, he’d show up on her doorstep, and she’d rather not look at him at all much less have to deal with him in person.

“I’m sorry, Gillian,” she said. “I shouldn’t ruin your moment just because mine was. We can talk later. I promise that I’ll fill you in. Anyway, we can’t really clean up like we wanted to, so I definitely have ‘some ‘splaining to do.’ Have you heard anything from the others?”

“No. I’ve been incommunicado, but not for that reason. Batteries died. Guess I have ‘some ‘splaining to do’ too.” Gillian made a face and stuck out her tongue. “Now that is no way to start your morning.”

“Sounds good,” Tessa said. She looked back at Dallas. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Dallas said. “With a brother like Giles, you get accustomed to the wrath of a woman. Seems like every time that boy turns around he’s broken another heart or gotten some war between women started. I’m used to it. . . though I’m shocked it’s Gavin playing this game.”

“Well, he can think again. If he wants games, he should try someone younger and dumber.” She turned to go, waving her hand nonchalantly even though the situation left her feeling anything but nonchalant or ambivalent.

Just get your mind on work, she told herself. You did come down here on a mission. Stop getting distracted. It was just yesterday that she was saying she wanted to hurry up and get out of Argentina. The only way she would be able to is to complete the mission.

So when she dug out her phone and saw missed calls from Zinsser and several text messages with ‘911’ included, she knew she would not have an easy time of it.

“I oughta throw you all out on your asses!” Zinsser’s voice came through Tessa’s earpiece in a shrill, rodent-sounding pitch.

“Excuse me?” Tessa responded.

“I don’t know how headquarters recommended you so highly. You have got to be one of the dumbest and least competent bitches this program has ever seen! My dad was right-- once you start letting women get out of the kitchen and try to think for themselves, civilization as we know it will devolve. And here we are.”

Tessa visualized herself reaching through the phone, grabbing Zinsser by the throat, lifting him up off the ground, and throwing him into a dumpster, where he belonged.

“Look, I had a little too much tequila, but wasn’t it you that told me I’d never get the guy if I, quote, didn’t loosen up a little and get the stick out of my ass? The way I see it-- I was following orders.”

She smiled at her sarcasm, knowing that Zinsser was boiling. For a millisecond she wished she could see his face. She was certain it was red while that one vein in his neck was bulging with anger.

“Are you contradicting your commanding officer?” Zinsser played this card too often as Tessa saw it. And it was really the only legal “strong-arming” he could do.

“No, sir. I was merely trying to explain that I was following your suggestion, but perhaps I overdid it, and that is why I was unable to check in last night. I did manage to entice the target, as directed. However, I seem to have lost contact with the target for the time being.”

“So, not only did your compadres fuck up, you expect me to believe that you, the great Tessa Brooks, also just happened to pass out and ‘lose’ the target so that we couldn’t complete the mission? You ‘lost contact’? How did you manage to ‘lose contact’ with the target when he’s supposed to be within your proximity, Agent?”

“He fled, sir. He’s no longer within my proximity.” Tessa could feel her blood pressure spike again as she replayed the greeting she received this morning from an empty bed. “And, sir, I’m not sure if I understood you. Did you indicate that all of the team was unsuccessful?”

Zinsser laughed. “Well, you’re a quick one. YES, AGENT! YOU ALL FUCKED UP! And if you think we are going to let it happen again, then you’re sadly, sadly mistaken. I will say that I’m surprised at one thing.”

Tessa heard the pause and knew she had to ask, but she was already cringing in anticipation of the answer. “What is that, sir?”

“I just didn’t ever expect you to be that bad in bed, Agent. Geez!” Tessa could hear the weaselly sneer in his voice. “I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t go into prostitution. You’d starve!” He cackled again, enthralled with his own humor.

Tessa, however, found it tasteless. “I’m sorry to disappoint, sir, but the target left after the act. Correction-- after the fourth or fifth round of the act. . . not that it’s any of your business.”

Zinsser sobered up very quickly. “Agent, have you been in contact with your three companions?”

“I just spoke with one. The other two are not back at home base yet, sir.”

“Well, when they get there, they’re to contact me immediately. Tell all three of them to do so. Headquarters has decided to pull you from the field and try a different tactic. You all have failed and your insubordination has been noted. You will be leaving at oh-four hundred, and you will report to Chief Jameson immediately upon arrival.”

“Sir? What do you mean? Insubordination? We have done everything exactly as planned! What the hell is going on?” Tessa had to stop and admit to herself that she had never trusted Zinsser, that she had half-expected this to happen all along, and it made perfect sense for it to happen now-- they had all fulfilled the only job he felt they could do. Now he’d no use for them.

“NONE of you has done exactly as planned. You all failed last night and provided lame excuses as to why it happened. Now, I don’t know what you little girls had planned, but you’ve been compromised and found untrustworthy. The integrity of this mission is ruined, and Headquarters wants you out of Argentina and back home before you’re seduced too far to the other side.”

“The other side?” Tessa was yelling now. In all her years of service, she had never faced a situation or accusation even close to this one. She had medals of honor. She had marks of distinction. She had top security clearance all over DC, but now, with this weasel, she was being pulled off an assignment for treason?

“I tried to tell them that this plan wouldn’t work. You can’t trust a woman to remain emotionally detached. And, honestly, between the two of us, those brothers have powers we never dreamt of. There is something they can do to lure you ladies in. I saw it happening. I can’t tell what it was, but somehow each of them was playing each of you when it should have been the other way around. I watched all four of you bend to their submission and will. It’s a woman’s nature to do so.”

Tessa couldn’t decide which was making her more sick-- the words coming from Zinsser’s mouth, or the tone of gentle pseudo-sympathy that dressed the words. She was not, however, going to let go of this so easily. “Sir, may I make a proposal?”

“Proceed.”

“Let me get the girls together and we meet you so that we can discuss this face to face. These are serious allegations, and it is devastating news. Don’t you think we deserve the decency of a meeting? Isn’t it protocol?”

“Are you tutoring me about protocol, Agent?” Zinsser scoffed.

Tessa inhaled deeply, exhaled silently. It was taking every ounce of strength to remain calm and think this through instead of reacting the way she really wanted.

“Agent, I will grant you that meeting, but we will not spend much time in discussion. Get the rest of the team and meet me at the safe house. You’ve got an hour.”

“Thank you, sir. One hour.” She hung up, thankful for one small victory. Maybe, just maybe, her day was turning around. . . or maybe she shouldn’t get her hopes up quite yet.

Having enlisted the help of Dallas to find the other girls (something told Tessa that he’d be able to do it more quickly than your average guy), she was able to begin putting all of the puzzle pieces together-- Each of the girls had been successful in attaining private time with their targets, but they had also each failed in contacting the clean up team to extract each of the targets. Somehow, the batteries on Gillian’s phone had been zapped dead, even though it had been fully charged before leaving for the cantina. Then, Melissa and Dara had lost theirs over the course of the evening, which struck Tessa as extremely odd since Melissa was notoriously organized and meticulous. She didn’t simply ‘lose’ anything much less a phone during a mission.

“I just can’t believe that all of this happened simultaneously,” Gillian offered.

“Or at all,” Tessa mumbled. She was dreading the meeting, but she was ready to get it over with. She had a few ideas in mind about the defense she would offer, and she was just hoping that Zinsser’s ego had been stroked enough earlier and she could plea for an understanding and a chance to rectify the situation. She was not above acting the penitent child if it meant saving her reputation and job. She didn’t really know what she was without the job.

“Let’s just go and get this done,” Dara huffed and planted her feet firmly as she popped up off of the sofa.

“For once, I completely agree,” Melissa said as she stood to join Dara. “The less time we have to spend with The Weasel, the better. And I’d like to have some breakfast afterward, so let’s go. I’m starving already.”

“Well, you’re just going to get your appetite ruined,” Gillian offered. “Do what you can to fight it, though. He’s gross, but he’d relish the thought of affecting you so badly.”

Everyone knew what Melissa’s first love was-- food. No one could tell it by looking at her, but she never turned down food, and she’d never met a food she didn’t like.

“Let’s go. We can be early and perhaps that will gain us a few points,” Tessa said. The girls headed to the rented Suburban in the last hour before dawn. The safe house was only a matter of minutes away, but hidden by forest and groves, so they would have to go off-road for a bit.

“Seat belts,” Dara said as she strapped herself in. Then the sound of clicking metal arrested all the girls’ movement.

“Yesss,” came a hoarse, guttural voice from the very back of the truck. “We want to keep you safe.” A man appeared over the seat right behind Dara and Gillian. Two other men with machine guns approached each side of the car, taking advantage of the fact that Dara hadn’t yet closed her door, giving them access to their prey.