A Man Like No Other (10 page)

“Can you move?” Taber asked Betsy
quietly when she opened her eyes. She nodded. “Good, be ready.” Then he put his
attention back on Serefina.

“What the hell are you going to do with
that?” Dillard snipped.

“See, I want them let go.”

“No way.”

“Get up,” she snapped.

Taber moved and froze when a gun swung
to him. Movement in the door showed the arrival of another man. Whose gun was
pointed at Serefina.
Shit!

She didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.
“You’re a gun dealer, call off your dogs.”

“Why would I do that?” Dillard
questioned, his tone full of cold arrogance.

“Beside the fact if I’m killed, you’ll
never see your sister again? I know you see the SIG up to this man but the one
in my other hand is pointing at you.”

“A puny backup. I’ll survive.”

An eyebrow quirked. “Five shots in less
than two seconds. Three options of bullets to use—.45 Colt ammo, .410
two-and-a-half inch, or .410 three-inch shotshells. I’ll tell you, I’m using
the three-inch shotshells. Know what gun this is?”

Taber did. And from the look on
Dillard’s face so did he.
Holy shit,
she’s packing a Taurus Judge three-inch Magnum.
His woman amazed him. And
yes, she was
his
.

“Thought so,” she uttered.

She lifted her leg and drove it hard
into the knee of the man before her while with each gun she took out his other
men, then both guns were on Dillard. He swallowed hard.

“What’s it going to be, Dillard?”

“I’m a ghost,” he insisted.

“Ghosts are dead.” Her left hand lifted
and she gestured with the SIG. “Get up and get going.”

Taber slid from beneath Betsy, stood
and helped Sean up before they both turned to Betsy and assisted her. “Go,” he
ordered.

Then he grabbed the gun by him and
palmed it. A quick glance told him it was loaded; she’d just had the safety on.
Smart woman.
He tied up the two men
bleeding and moved to Serefina. Closer now, he could see the blood pouring down
her side. It nearly broke his heart.

“I got this,” he said.

She flicked her gaze to him and he
could see the pain in her eyes and the desire to kill the man. Ignoring his own
desire, he shook his head slightly.

“Not like this. We’re not like him.”

Serefina lowered her arms and walked to
the door. “Five minutes, if he’s not topside, I’ll kill his sister.” Then she
followed Sean and Betsy.

“You can’t do this,” Dillard said. “I’m
protected by the
Marshalls
.”

“We’re not
Marshalls
.”

“Who are you then?”

“I’m DEA.” He gestured with the gun.
“She’s not. Now, get moving.”

Dillard shook his head but seemed to
have lost his determination. “You can take me out of here but I’ll get off. My
slate will be wiped clean.”

“Not this time.” He secured Thrugood’s
hands with the strips and led him up the stairs. Sean, Betsy, and Serefina were
there.

Serefina was on the phone and looked at
him before saying, “I’ll be back.” Then she slipped out.

“Why?” Taber asked. “Why did you kill
that agent and put her in my bed?”

“I knew she was an agent. She didn’t
fit in.”

He frowned. “And me? How’d you know
about my room?”

A sinister look of glee appeared.
“Don’t know?”

“Nope, why don’t you enlighten me?”

“What fun would that be?”

The hair on the back of his neck rose.
Steps on the front porch alerted him to a person and he barely glanced,
expecting to see Serefina. It wasn’t. Special Agent Lou Howard stood there.

“Howard?” he asked in disbelief.

“Step away from him, Taber.”

“You…you’re working with him?”

“I like the money. I won’t ask again.
Let him go.” Howard lifted the gun in his hand.

Rage filled him. “How could you? He
killed Shania.”

The man lifted a shoulder. “Casualty.
Every war has them.”

Taber stepped back and dropped his gun.
“So you stand by while this man kills people.”

“Like I said, causalities happen.”

He was disgusted. This man he’d called
friend. “How many have you let him kill?”

“Not more than ten that I know of.”
Another careless shrug. “I’d have brought you in on it, but I knew you’d
refuse. I have to kill you now.”

“What about the girl?” Dillard asked,
moving closer to Howard.

“Girl?” Howard frowned. “You bring
Serefina with you? Damn I wanna tap that ass. Maybe I’ll fuck her before I kill
her.” A sadistic grin turned up the corners of his mouth.

Somehow, he managed not to fly at the
man and rip his heart out with his bare hands. “Touch her and I’ll kill you.”

“You sweet on her?” Howard asked.

Taber could feel the weight of Sean’s
gaze on him but never looked at the other man. It was no one’s business what
went on with him and Serefina. “You’re a disgrace, Howard.”

“Sticks and stones, Taber. Sticks and
stones.” An easy sigh. “Goodbye.”

He flinched when the shot rang out. The
bullet entered his side, causing him to stagger but he didn’t fall. Pain
radiated up and throughout his body.
Damn
it, getting shot sucks!
Howard collapsed, a huge hole in his chest. Eyes
wide, Taber stared. Serefina stood behind where Howard had been, the Judge in
hand. Her other around the wrist of Kelly Gordon.

The sound of a chopper broke the
silence, and moments later, agents swarmed. He could hear Dillard hollering for
his sister. Kelly just stared at him and shook her head before allowing another
agent to lead her away.

“Taber!”

He blinked a few times and focused on
his brother who hovered before him. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he
blinked a few times to stop the slight rotation of the world around him.

“Cort.”

“Mom woulda killed me if anything
serious happened to you,” his brother growled.

A humourless chuckle escaped. “Didn’t
think about that.”

“Come on, Tabby. Let’s get you to a
hospital and patched up.”

He hesitated and looked around for
Serefina. The sight which met him caused more pain than any gunshot ever could.
She stood in Sean’s embrace and held him tightly. Like he meant the world to
her. Like they meant the world to one another. And Taber realised he had his
answer about whether or not she still loved him. Sean lifted his head and sent
him a smile which chilled him through and through. It was full of ownership and
arrogance, like he knew he’d won.

“Let’s go,” Taber forced out.

Cort’s silence told him he’d seen it
too. Together, they walked out and got in a waiting SUV.

“Do you want to wait—?”

“No! Just go, Cort.”

He closed his eyes as they moved down
the driveway. His heart was breaking but he swore he’d not cry. Somehow, he’d
find the way to move on and get back to how things were before he even met
Serefina LeBenoit.

Chapter Ten

Albuquerque
,
New Mexico
. Six weeks later.

Serefina walked through
Old
Town
with slow steps. She still hurt but she’d refused to stay away. It remained
hard to swallow that one second Taber was there, then the next he was gone.
Like he’d never been there at all. By the time she’d made it back to the hotel,
her bags were waiting for her in the room, but he and all traces of him gone.
So she’d taken a chance and headed here, remembering what Taber had said about
gathering here for his brother’s birthday.

“Hello, Fina,” a deep voice said.

Looking up, she smiled slightly. Sean
Forrest. Not quite the man she hoped for.

“Sean.” She didn’t even bother to ask
what he was doing here. She knew. He had come for her. Problem was she didn’t
want this man before her.

“Hungry?”

Yes.
But not for you or food.

“Sure.”

They walked into Crave Ice Cream &
Coffee and grabbed a vacant table.

Drinks placed before them, she stared
across the table at him. “What do you want, Sean?”

“A lot of things. Most of which I’m
sure I’ll never get. But I wanted to thank you for saving us.”

“You’re welcome.” She sighed and stared
at her hands. Her fingers curved around the cup of mocha.

“I missed you, Fina.”

Lifting her head, she held his brown
gaze. “Let me make this easy on you, Sean. Save it. We’re done.”

“You still have feelings for me. The
night of the rescue, you came to me instead of going to him.”

“A mistake. I was still confused but
I’m not anymore. I don’t love you.”

“And Kysenzki?” he growled the
question.

Easy answer. “I love him.”

Sean stared at her in silence for a few
moments. With a deep breath, he ran his hand over his head. “Okay. I get it, I
stood you up.”

“You stood me up on our wedding day,
Sean. You left me a note. But that’s not it. It doesn’t have anything to do
with you or what happened between us. This is purely between me and Taber.”

“Does he make you happy?”

Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew
some money and tossed it down. “He makes my life worth living. He’s a man like
no other and no one else will do it for me. Goodbye, Sean.”

Without looking back, she strode out
into the bright desert sun. She made her way to Old Town Emporium and sighed
when the shade of the interior cooled her. Browsing, she debated just calling
Taber and asking him for a face to face. Just to hear his voice again.

Then she heard it and shook her head.
I’m starting to fantasise. This can’t be
good.

She stepped around a corner and froze.
There he stood. His blond hair tied back, he wore body hugging jeans and a tight
white tee. She could see his cowboy boots peeking out. A flood of desire
slammed her and she bit her lower lip to keep the whimper contained.

Sidled up close to him was a beautiful
black woman. She laughed and had her hand resting on his arm. A red haze of
anger settled over Serefina. The urge to rip that woman from him nearly took
her to her knees.

Her breath caught when two more men
appeared in view. One she recognised, his brother Cort. And the other, she
assumed was the other sibling, Pete. She breathed a bit easier when the woman
who’d been touching Taber kissed the blond she didn’t know. A few more people
walked around and she was amazed by the good-looking men and women of the
group.

One man had a young boy in tow and a
younger girl in his arms. Serefina had just licked her lips when Cort looked up
and spotted her. All he did was touch his brother on the shoulder and point in
her direction.

She didn’t move. She couldn’t.

It felt like her heart resided in a
vice when he stared at her, his hawk-like blue gaze burning her. No emotion
showed but he left the group and moved towards her. She wanted to swoon when
his masculine scent reenergised her senses.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in
a low drawl. There existed no emotion in the question.

Beyond him, she could see Cort talking
and figured he filled the others in on who she was. The one she assumed to be
Pete snapped his head around to her and back to his brother a few times before
the woman beside him socked him in the arm.

“Looking for you,” she replied in the
same hushed tone.

“Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you but apparently
I’m interrupting something.” She dug her nails into her palms to keep from
grabbing at him. “I’m at Bottger Mansion Bed & Breakfast if you want to
talk to me.”

She walked away, refusing to look back.
A hand grabbed her when the sun hit her. Slow, she turned to face the one
holding her. Taber stood there, his gaze swirled with anger.

“Don’t walk away from me.”

“I don’t have time to play games,
Taber. I know you’re with family, so you know where I am if you want to talk.”

“Talking isn’t the top of my list of
things to do,” he swore.

She grew wet. “That’s all I’m
offering.”

“Why are you here instead of with
Sean?” he demanded in a sharp tone.

I
don’t want Sean, I want you.
“I have nothing further to say to him.” She
struggled to remain in control of her emotions. It was harder than she thought
to see him again. “Meaning?”

His thumb skimmed along her skin,
making it hard to follow the conversation.

“Meaning nothing. I haven’t anything
more to say to him.”

“You went to him.”

“A mistake.”

“And me?”

“Like I told Sean, you make my life
worth living.” There it was. Out there for all to hear. Her heart lay exposed
on her sleeve and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She had to suck it up and
take the chance if she were going to get him back.

Emotions blazed to life in his gaze. He
glanced back and she saw they’d been followed out.

“I’ll meet y’all later,” Taber mumbled
to his family and immediately put his eyes back on her.

“Good to see you again, Serefina,” Cort
said with a grin and a wave.

She couldn’t respond for Taber’s mouth
covered hers. He kissed her until there was no breath left within her. His eyes
were stormy when he pulled away.

“Mine, angel. From now until the end of
time.”

“Sounds like a good start to me,” she
said, nibbling on his lips.

“Where’s your room?”

“Just up the street.”

He didn’t let her go until they got
there. Then he shredded her clothes and sank deep into her, fully engorged,
with the mahogany queen bed beneath them.

“Ahh yes,” she moaned as he moved.

“Mine.” He growled with each thrust.

“Yes,” she agreed immediately.

He positioned her feet flat on the bed
and began powering deep and hard. “Fuck, I’ve missed you, angel.”

All she could do was moan. Eyes
fluttering, she followed where he led. To the edge of bliss. Her internal
muscles clamped down on his hardness and he groaned and increased his speed.

She came with a scream and he erupted
shortly after.

“I love you, Serefina,” he whispered in
her ear.

Tightening her hold on him, she smiled
into the shoulder she’d just bitten. “I love you, too, Taber. I love you, too.”

He rose up and stared at her. “You know
this means we’re getting married.”

A sly smile flitted across her face.
“Guess it’s a good thing this is known as the Honeymoon suite then.”

“You’re a minx.”

“And I’m all yours.”

He hardened within her and began to
stroke slowly. “I like the sound of that.”

So did she. Sinking her hands into his
hair, she tugged him close for another kiss. This was what she wanted. This was
what life was about. Taber Kysenzki was a man like no other. And he was all
hers.