Josie snapped Daniel’s cell phone shut, frustration making her stomach cramp. “Detective Stone says they aren’t doing anything to move in on the enemy despite the fact we know exactly where my stolen laptop is.”
“Why not?” Daniel looked up from where he sat at the suite’s small table oiling his weapon.
“The FBI is afraid of another Waco situation.” She rubbed her stomach, but it didn’t help dispel the tension tightening her insides. “All their intelligence indicates the compound is heavily armed, but that wives and children live there along with the self-appointed whites-only militia. An attempt to go in could result in a bloodbath. The situation is under consideration by the FBI and the rest of the coalition involved in the investigation.”
“Tyler isn’t going to stand around waiting for the shirts in Washington to get their heads out of their as— butts before he acts.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. The nutcases in that group hiding in the Rockies tried to kill him and did destroy his home. Dad’s going to be planning revenge.”
“The question is, do we try to help him or stop him?”
“We may not have a choice. Stopping my dad when he’s in full-throttle battle mode is like putting a hand brake on a rampaging elephant.” She plopped down on the edge of the bed and sighed, exhausted by the prospect of even trying.
Daniel looked as dangerous as she knew him to be. “Where did those idiots ever get the idea they could learn what he had to teach them and then dispose of him?”
“And blame me for it.” She was still mad about that. Being accused of attempted patricide was not her idea of a good time. “The authorities were already buying in to me as the culprit. If my house hadn’t been broken in to, I would still be under investigation.”
He gave her one of those looks he was so good at, the ones that made her feel shivery on the inside even when she was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to. “There’s no reason to believe you aren’t.”
“They let me leave the state.”
“You didn’t tell them you were going, and I made darn sure we weren’t tailed to the airport.”
She’d thought he’d been watching for the media, or the terrorists. It hadn’t occurred to her he had been just as intent on eluding the police. “Detective Stone didn’t tell me not to go anywhere, and he told me to concentrate on finding Dad.”
“He said to stay off airplanes.”
“He was talking about parachuting from them into the compound.”
“Maybe.” Daniel finished with his weapon and laid it on the hand towel he’d spread out on the table.
She shook her head, not convinced she was still under suspicion. Her dad and Daniel both tended to be overly cautious about some things. “I still think the enemy made a mistake breaking in to my house.”
“That wasn’t their only one.”
That was true, the extremists had made a lot of mistakes when she stopped to think about it. “Stupidity or arrogance, do you think?”
“Both.” Daniel didn’t sound very interested either way. “They’re not going to get the best of Tyler or us.”
“I hope not.” If she could just talk to her dad, she’d feel a lot better.
Daniel got up and came over to her, the fluid grace of his body impacting her even with all the worries tumbling around in her head about her dad. He stopped in front of her, so close she had to tip her head back to look up at him. She didn’t try to mask her worried thoughts, didn’t even want to. She’d spent most of her life hiding her weakness from others, but her defenses came crashing down with him.
“I’m worried, Daniel.”
“I can see that.” He gently pushed against her shoulders until she was lying back on the bed. “You need to let it go.” Then he came over her, settling his hips against hers and holding his upper body above her with his arms.
If his plan was to disarm her fears by getting her to focus on him, it was working. She could barely remember her own name, much less what they were talking about.
His dark brown, ultraserious gaze locked with hers. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“I want to believe that.”
“Then do.” He kissed her, and she melted without a second’s hesitation.
He took his time about it, nibbling on her lips and exploring her mouth with his tongue. He’d done a lot of that over the last day and a half—kissing her, touching her, pulling her into his lap to cuddle her. Far from ignoring her because she couldn’t make love with him, he went out of his way to be affectionate. He pampered her and made her feel as though she was anything but a simple sexual obsession.
Not that she had expected him to dismiss her from his thoughts as if she meant nothing when she wasn’t available sexually. They were friends after all, but she knew the nondemand touching excited him. She’d felt the evidence on more than one occasion, and yet he made no effort to protect himself from sexual frustration by sticking with a policy of non-contact. And she’d really liked that.
She’d offered to bring him to a climax with her hand or her mouth, but he’d refused, saying she was too tired and fragile physically to be worrying about him. The ibuprofen had helped a lot with her cramps, but the exhaustion that accompanied the first twenty-four hours of her period still clung to her.
He finished the kiss with a series of little nibbles down the side of her throat and then rolled onto his side, pulling her with him. He didn’t say anything, just rubbed her back, and she felt herself getting drowsy. She didn’t fight the sensation because she knew she didn’t have to. She was safe with him.
Josie woke feeling totally refreshed to the sound of the shower going in the suite’s main bathroom. She smiled to herself. Daniel must have gone for a run or a swim. He wouldn’t have wanted to take a mid-afternoon nap with her, but he’d held her until she fell asleep.
That kind of consideration deserved a reward. Besides, she’d dreamt about him, about how it would be to bring him to a climax. She wanted to see if reality matched the experience of her imagination. She considered how best to pursue her goal and was glad for what she’d considered extravagance upon checking in—a secondary half bath off the suite’s living room area.
She’d just come back into the bedroom after freshening up when she heard the water cut off. Okay, so a sojourn in the shower was out, but that hadn’t been her first choice anyway. She didn’t want him to be distracted by anything, including running water.
A few minutes later, he came into the room, a towel slung around his hips and using another to dry his hair. He glanced toward the bed and stopped mid-movement with the towel dangling from his hand.
“Josette?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
She’d taken off the clothes she’d put on when the pain meds started working and put his T-shirt back on. It hung down on one shoulder and showed the upper swell of her left breast. She’d meant it to be that way and was very gratified by his response.
“I had a dream.”
His hand came down, and the towel dropped from it. “You did?”
“Yes, and it was really nice.”
His eyes kindled with heat, and the corners of his lips tilted in a small smile. “I’m glad to hear that, honey. Was I in the dream?”
“Yes.”
He started walking toward her. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
“I’d rather show you.”
His breathing increased, his expression very interested. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Definitely.” She put her hand up before he reached her. “Take off your towel and lie down on the bed, Daniel. I want to pleasure you.”
If his stillness before had been acute, now it was absolute. “You want to pleasure me?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded. “I want to make you come, and I want to watch you do it.” Her dream had been very explicit, and she was still tender in her secret places from it.
She watched with interest as his towel started tenting away from his body.
She smiled, her body suffusing with heat from his obvious arousal. “I guess you like the idea.”
“I always like the idea of making love with you.”
