Kissing Fire (14 page)

“They keep an apartment for emergencies.” I could
see the excitement on her face. She was glowing.

“Hmm. Well, I’m so glad Justin and Caroline are
okay.”

“So am I.”

“Does that mean I can go back?”

“No, I’m sorry, but you can’t. Not yet. Those guys
are really vicious and just because they didn’t find me doesn’t
mean they’ll stop at that. They’ll keep looking for me, so we need
to sit tight here for some time. You understand, don’t you?”

“I suppose so.”

“Good.”

“So Preston?”

“Yeah ?”

“Are you ever going to tell me how you’re really
connected to Justin and Caroline?”

********

When she asked me there was no trying to cover it up
any longer. Her life was in danger as much as my own. If I didn’t
trust her now, I would have to keep her around me for life. For
some reason though, trust wasn’t an issue for me. Whatever I was
getting ready to tell her, I knew for certain she would never tell
a soul.

So I began to tell her the entire
story of Preston Mitchell and his sister Terri and what
really
happened that
night. She sat and listened patiently, not asking any
questions.

“I hated myself more than anything for ripping the
two of them apart. I’d never seen two people more in love than
Terri and Justin. The worst part was the aftermath. I’m sure Justin
was awful. Terri was...well, she ended up in a mental hospital for
three months. She became so despondent and she kept failing the
treatments they tried. It was like she was swallowed up by her
depression. Luckily, she had a great doctor who finally got her on
the appropriate things. It took a while but eventually the spark
came back. Terri, or Caroline I should say, was the one who worked
diligently toward bringing down the cartel. It was really her intel
that did it. She was relentless. After everything was over, she
talked to Pete and me. She told us she wanted to go to Charleston
for closure. The only things she kept from her relationship with
Justin was her engagement ring and the diamond necklace he gave her
for Christmas.”

Avery looked at me and said, “I remember that
necklace. Justin always wondered what happened to both of them
because neither were found in the car or the house.”

“We tried to get her to part with
them so we could put them in her car but she refused. She said we
might as well kill her. Anyway we finally agreed to let her keep
those two things. I couldn’t refuse her that. I mean, my God, I’d
already taken so damn much from her...ruined her life and nearly
destroyed her in the process.” I had to stop for a minute and
collect myself. Even now, after all this time, I still got choked
up thinking about how she had suffered. “After the cartel was
brought down, she decided to go to Charleston, like I said, and see
Justin for closure. One of the things she wanted to do was to pass
on the ring and necklace to him. Terri Mitchell had finally died in
her eyes and those two things had been her security blanket. She
thought it was time to let them be his, if he needed them. If not,
he could sell them since he was the one who’d bought them to begin
with. She knew in her heart she would never love another man for
the rest of her life. So it didn’t really matter to her if he was
with someone else or not. Her time had finally come to move on.
Once they saw each other and she explained what happened, they knew
they had to be together. That’s why Justin moved to Seattle. Terri
became Caroline Cole as part of the witness protection program. She
had plastic surgery and her identity was changed. She can never go
back to Charleston and no one can ever know.
You’re
not supposed to know. She was
really nervous about being around you...about you suspecting
something. Keeping that secret is paramount to protecting her life
Avery.”

Avery wiped the tears from her face, stared at me
and nodded. She didn’t say anything right away, but sat in silence.
I supposed she was digesting everything I had just explained to her
and in my mind, I was sure she despised me for what I had done to
her brother. When she finally got up, it was to go in search of a
tissue. She returned and sat next to me, taking my hand into
hers.

“As you probably already know, Justin died when
Terri did and we were all so happy when he made the decision to go
to Seattle. We thought he had been reborn. Now I know the truth.
For whatever it’s worth, I’m happy for them. I certainly wouldn’t
have wanted either of them to die and you did what you had to do.
Had Justin known what was going on, I’m certain he would’ve been
killed in his attempt to protect her. You did the right thing
Preston.” She squeezed my hand.

That tiny gesture meant more to me than I could even
tell her. The weight on my chest lifted a bit and I felt like I
could breathe easier again. I knew she noticed a difference in me
immediately so I tried to explain it to her.

I half smiled and said, “It was all my fault, you
see. My profession and what I had chosen to do. I was responsible
and carried the guilt of what they both had endured. And not only
them. My father was murdered because of me and my stupid job. So
there you have it all Avery...all of the ugly mess that is Preston
Mitchell.”

Chapter 13

Avery

I’d suspected something had been going on between
the three of them, but it wasn’t this. I wouldn’t have known
Caroline was Terri. Now that Preston had told me, I could see the
resemblance in the two women. Not necessarily in their appearance,
but in their mannerisms. Preston agreed. We talked about that for a
little while when he suggested we get some of the chili he’d made
for dinner.

I followed him into the kitchen and
he’d already set two places at the counter in there while he’d been
cooking. He filled a couple of bowls and we sat side by side eating
our dinner.

The chicken chili was delicious. “This is excellent!
Where’d you learn to cook?”

He laughed and said, “Avery, I’m thirty five. If I
wanted to eat, I had to cook.”

“I realize that Preston, but I can’t even cook chili
this good.”

“Avery, there are probably a lot of things you can’t
do as well as I can.”

Was that a challenge because I loved a good
challenge?

“Oh really Preston? Like what?”

“Avery, I make the very best chateaubriand you’ve
ever put in your mouth.”

“Is that a fact?”

“It is indeed.”

“Well then, you’re going to have to
prove that to me,” I challenged.

“Oh, I intend to.”

“Do you now?”

“Yes Avery, I most certainly
do.”

“What else can you do?”

“Let's see." He tilted his head,
gave me a half grin and announced, "Well, I am an expert
marksman.”

“Is that so? Would you care to
demonstrate that?”

“Most definitely. I also plan to
teach you how to shoot.”

"I see. Will you be using your extra large gun?"

He raised his brows and then gave me a cheeky grin.
"Only if you ask very nicely."

I bit my lip and tried not to
laugh. “So Preston, do you have any other exceptional talents you
wish to share with me?”

“Yes, but I don’t care to tell you what they are
right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because Avery, they involve a very personal and
intimate nature and one simply does not boast about those
things.”

Holy cow! Did he really just say what I think he
said? Preston Mitchell was getting downright playful!

I looked closely at him and saw his lips twitching
ever so slightly. Then I felt my face getting warm. No, scratch
that. It was getting extremely hot. I tried to look nonchalant,
like it wasn’t bothering me, but when I looked up at him, our eyes
locked and suddenly, I felt this charge hit my body. Maybe it hit
the entire room, because the twitching in his lips stopped and the
gold in his eyes intensified. Then his head slanted and his lips
were on mine, soft at first, but later, not so much. His tongue ran
across my lips and was soon tangling with mine, sending shock waves
all the way to my toes. We were still sitting at the counter but
some way my legs ended up over his, tucked nicely around his waist,
as he continued to tease my mouth with his lips and tongue.

“Oh Avery, Avery. You’re the sweetest thing I’ve
ever known,” he whispered against my lips. He rested his forehead
against mine and we sat together like that for a moment. I could’ve
stayed that way forever. What I really wanted to do was feel his
warm naked skin under the palms of my hands, but I was done pushing
it with him. This may take a while and for him I would be willing
to wait until it was the perfect time.

“Are you okay?” he wanted to know.

“Oh yeah. I’m really good,” as I
let out a tiny laugh. "But you left out one very exceptional
talent."

"I did?"

“Yeah?”

"Which one is that?"

"Kissing."

His lips caught mine again and he proved my point,
as he left me lightheaded and breathless. We broke apart because of
our damn requirement for air. Damn that bodily need! I stroked his
face and then brushed my fingers lightly across his cheeks.

“Preston, can I touch
you?”

He looked into my eyes, searching for something.

“Avery, you can always touch me. You don’t have to
ask.”

“But I thought...well, you know earlier when
I...”

“You caught me by surprise. If I know you’re here,
it’s all good.” He brushed his hand through my hair, letting his
fingers glide through. “You have the softest hair.”

He made me smile. He was always saying the nicest
things to me. I ran my hand along his arm, from shoulder to wrist.
He was hard and muscular. I knew he was well formed, perfect
actually. I wanted to feel his skin so badly it was hard not to
pull his shirt off. My hand slid to his neck and I cupped it as I
leaned into him, pressing my head next to his heart. It was
thrumming against my ear and its rhythm gave me comfort. His arms
held me tightly to him and we sat together like that, unmoving, for
quite some time.

I eventually lifted my head and told him, “Someday
Preston, I’m going to make love to you with my whole body.” His
eyes widened, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond, I unhooked
my legs from around his waist and I stood and cleared our dishes,
putting them in the dishwasher. He sat there and watched me. When I
was finished putting everything away, I walked up to him and held
his face in my hands, kissed him on the lips and then said, “I’m
really sleepy so I’m going to bed. Goodnight Preston. Thank you for
a lovely dinner.”

Turning away from him, I headed up
the stairs. His eyes were on me the whole way as I high fived
myself the entire march up the steps.

As I lay in bed, I couldn’t get my
mind off of everything we had discussed. Preston had been through
so much how could I not admire him for everything he had done? He’d
given up his life for his job. It pissed me off in that it had
destroyed his family, but those people he worked for let it all
happen. They saw his life unraveling and had done nothing about it.
What kind of people did stuff like that? Were they so focused on
their own goals that they missed what was happening to their
people’s lives? That was scary above all.

That crap that Preston had gone through in prison
was insane. It was one thing to go through that because you were
stupid enough to have committed the crime to begin with. But to go
to prison because it’s part of your cover? Again, what kind of
people let their employees do this kind of stuff?

My stomach hurt just thinking about it all. But the
most painful of it all was that Preston didn’t think he was worthy
of anyone because of it. That was just bullshit too. I felt my
blood boil when I thought about it.

I got out of bed and started pacing about my room.
It was all so damn unfair. He had done it all to help our country
get rid of the drugs coming in, but the price he had paid was way
more than he bargained for.

Looking at the clock I saw it was one in the
morning. I would never sleep now, as worked up as I was over this.
There was only one thing I could do and I had to do it before I
lost my nerve.

I walked across the hall and opened Preston’s door.
I didn’t want to startle him because I didn’t want to be put in a
chokehold again.

“Preston,” I called out in a quiet voice. “Are you
sleeping?”

“No, are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Can I get in bed with you?”

“Um, wait a minute.” He threw back the covers and
stood up. The moonlight was streaming in and I saw his perfect
naked silhouette as he stood. I wanted to fly across the room and
latch onto him tightly, but I didn’t. I grabbed the carpet with my
toes and clenched them as tightly as I could and fisted my hands
too. I’m sure my nails cut my palms because it sure felt like it.
He turned around and said, “I’m sorry. I sleep in the nude so I
wanted to pull some boxers on.”

“Oh.” I gulped. Just the thought. Mmm.

“Come on in Avery.” He held the covers back and I
climbed in his large bed.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“I’m sure.”

“I couldn’t sleep because I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“About what you said.”

“Well, that’s a fairly broad subject since I said
quite a bit about a lot of things.”

“I’ve been thinking about you.”

“I see.”

“I disagree with you.”

“Avery, you have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know
what you are talking about.”