A Man Like No Other (7 page)

An odd feeling filled him at the
thought of Serefina having been married. One he didn’t much care for. After
another quick glance towards the door, he opened the cover.

He almost dropped it. There was an
eight-by-ten shot of Serefina—his Serefina—with none other than Special Agent
Sean Forrest. Taber moved to the bed and sat on the edge, continually flipping
through the pages. The entire thing was planned out to the last detail. On the
back cover, there was a folded up note, taped to the cardboard. With a deep
breath, he unfolded it and began to read.

My dearest, Fina;

I truly wish I had the courage to
do this face to face but I can’t imagine looking at you and seeing the hurt and
disappointment in those beautiful brown eyes of yours. I know you don’t want to
hear it, but it’s not you, it’s me. I realised last night that I just wasn’t
ready to settle down and get married. Poor timing, I know. We both have our
careers and I feel one day you would have resented me for holding you back,
getting you pregnant instead of supporting your desire to run stings and go
undercover.

Tell people whatever you want, put
all the blame on me. I hope one day you will be able to forgive this
transgression. I know it may not seem like it now but I do love you, Serefina
Imee LeBenoit.

-Sean

He had to read it two times before it
sank in.
I can’t believe she was going to
marry Forrest. Hell, I can’t believe he didn’t marry her.
Serefina Imee
LeBenoit—her entire name was beautiful. As was she. Worrying his lower lip, he
got to his feet and put the book back in the box and placed it back on the
closet shelf. For a moment, he entertained the idea of going down and
confronting her but he restrained it. That was not the way to handle it.
I think this explains why she’s avoiding
relationships with DEA.

Not that she needed another DEA man in
her life. As far as Taber was concerned, he would be the last one. No need for
another man regardless of his job. Serefina was his. And he had no plans of
letting her go.

With a deep breath, he headed back down
to see her hanging up the phone. The look on her face identical to the one when
they’d first met. Business. At her feet sat a large black duffel.

He stepped forward and stared down at
her. He reached up with one hand and curled it alongside her jaw. “Shania and I
slept together. Only once. We were really good friends, though.”

Serefina blinked and shrugged. “I
didn’t ask for a rundown of your relationship with her. Nor do I need names of
women you’ve slept with in the past.”

He could see past the bland tone. The
look in her eyes was one he’d come to realise meant she was purposefully
keeping him at a distance. “I know you didn’t.
I
wanted you to know. I didn’t kill a spurned or old lover to keep
you from finding out about her.”

“Again, I didn’t ask. And I recall with
startling clarity how definitely you stated no woman would ever own your heart.
I’m assuming one did at one point then hurt you in some way. Either way, it’s
your business, Taber. I’m leaving. Let’s go.” She grabbed her bag and walked
out.

He followed and crowded her towards his
truck. A short stare-down had her sighing heavily and walking around the back
of the truck. She snorted and shook her head. He smiled, knowing full well what
had caused it. His bumper sticker read—
I’d
rather be Cummin than Strokin’ it.

“Where am I headed?” he asked as he
started down her driveway.

There was no answer and he turned to
sneak a peek at her. Her full lower lip caught between her teeth and she rolled
it slightly. Pulling his gaze from her enticing mouth, he dropped it down. One
hand flexed in a fist, only to relax and do it again.

“Serefina?”

She never looked at him just continued
to stare at something only she could see. “Head to
Utah
,
we’re shootin’ for
Wasatch-Cache
National Forest
area.”

Northeast Utah
.
He nodded. After a brief moment, he stole a glance at her. Her expression was
drawn and she appeared lost in thought. Was she thinking of Sean? Did she miss
him? Why else would she still have the binder? It had, after all, been over six
years from the date of their planned wedding.

“Do we have a plan?” he asked while
shifting and putting them on 25 North.

“Find him and kill him.”

He couldn’t help but agree with her
assessment of what to do with Dillard. Weaving in and out of slower moving
vehicles, Taber licked his lips and stole another glance. She’d barely moved.

“Tell me about Dillard Thurgood.”

“I already told what I know to your
people.” Frustration drenched her words.

“I know, but I didn’t hear it nor did I
read your reports.
Tell
me everything
you know about him.”

As the miles passed, she did as he’d
asked. He continually found himself impressed by the details she spouted off.
There were no notes, everything came from memory, and he knew she wanted this
man. He would bet Thurgood was the one case she couldn’t forget and wouldn’t
until it was solved. Preferably to her satisfaction.

He left the interstate four hours later
and pulled into a gas station. Stopping by the pump, he smiled at her when she
glanced at him before jumping out. Serefina returned his smile—a small one—but
it was a smile just the same and he’d take it. He climbed out, leaned against
the side of his truck, and watched her walk inside. She had such a natural
seductive stride, he couldn’t help but to be mesmerised. Her hips should have
been outlawed the way they moved. The shorts and shirt she wore did absolutely
nothing to help cool his ardour for her.

With a low groan, he ripped his gaze
from her intoxicating figure and filled the truck with diesel. Somewhere along
the line, Serefina had come to mean everything to him. It didn’t make sense.
There hadn’t been the typical courting between them. Hell, they argued a lot of
the time. But, beneath it all, he knew she was the one for him.

I
just have to get her to see it as well.

Tank topped off, he headed to the
store. The second he stepped inside he found her with his gaze. She stood by
the coolers, head tipped to the side and stared at a selection of water. With a
nod to the employee, who was a younger woman, he made a beeline for Serefina.

Behind her, he could smell the light
citrus scent which remained around her at all times. He tugged playfully on
some of her hair, a ready smile in place when she glanced at him.

“Water givin’ you trouble?” he teased.

“If it is?”

“We could buy it all and drink it, just
to prove a point.”

Her chuckle warmed him. “What point is
that? Nawh, I just got a bit lost in thought. Are we ready to go?”

“I’m always ready for you, angel.”

Lust slammed him when she dampened her
lips. Serefina faced him totally and he held his breath when she reached out
with one hand and trailed it down the front of his shirt until she reached the
waist of his jeans. Back up those fingers skated, ever so slowly, and he felt
himself continue to harden. Her eyes stayed on her hand and he swallowed hard
when her touch sank into his hair.

“I love your hair,” she murmured.

He loved her touching it.

Hands on her curvy hips, he drew her in
close and lowered his head. Brushing a kiss over the tip of her nose, he rubbed
slightly against her, to demonstrate how she made him hard as a rock.

“We should go, angel, or we’re going to
get in trouble for a public display.”

Her eyes sparkled and she pressed a
quick kiss to his lips. “Can’t have that, can we?” She patted him on the chest,
stepped away from him and grabbed a water.

He snagged one as well and paid for
them both before wrapping an arm around her and leading her back to his truck.
Instead of putting them back on the interstate, he drove to a hotel and parked.
Half of him expected her to protest but she remained silent.

It didn’t take long, and they were in
the small room. His eyes landed on the lone bed. He reached for her, only to
stop when her cell rang.

The love in her expression when she
answered chilled him for a moment. Listening to her thick accent, he sat on the
bed with a map spread out before him and plotted the best route to take. Even
so, his gaze continued to wander up to land on the woman who stood by the
window with a huge smile on her face, despite the late hour, talking on the phone.

Chapter Seven

Serefina couldn’t keep her eyes off
him. He drew her attention unlike anyone. Even Sean hadn’t had this strong of
an effect on her. Ending her call, she sighed and moved closer to where he sat
on the bed and stared at a map. She wasn’t fooled; she’d felt his gaze on her
more than once.

“I take it that was a good call,” he
commented, placing all his attention on her.

She smiled. “It was. My brother,
Solomon. I’m closest to him.” She clipped her phone back to her pocket. “My…my
twin, actually. He’s been in the
Middle East
for eighteen months now.”

“That must be hard.”

“Yeah, it is. But he calls when he can,
so that’s nice.”

“I don’t remember seeing a twin in your
pictures. Was he not in them?”

Her heart clenched with the pain of
memories. “We don’t look like twins anymore. Solomon was the one with the three
scars down the left side of his face.”

Taber folded up the map and waved her
close. She stepped between his open thighs and closed her eyes with a sigh when
his arms wrapped around her. Why could this man make her feel the things she
did? Emotions she’d thought had died and been buried the day she got the letter
from Sean on their supposed wedding. Things like happily ever after. A future
with someone as opposed to being alone. Hell, Taber even had her thinking about
children. Better question. Why
did
he?

For a brief spot of time, they remained
like that. His cheek rested along her belly, her hand stroked the back of his
head, and his arms made her feel safe. Then he tugged her back to lay on the
bed with him.

Face to face, legs intertwined, they
lay there, a single light on in the room. “Tell me something about you, Taber.”

His fingertips traced the contours of
her face while his gaze held hers. A faraway look appeared in his eyes before
it faded.

“I was in love once a long time ago.”

Her heart tightened. “Was?”

The smile on his face was sardonic.
“Yes. She decided she preferred another man to me.” He shrugged a shoulder.
“Well, not really, she just wanted us both and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t
okay with sharing.”

If
you were mine, Taber, I wouldn’t be okay with sharing you. Not even a little.
“So that’s why you say no woman would own your heart?”

“Yes.” His brows furrowed slightly. “I
got burned badly by her. Discovered them in my bed.”

“Damn.”

His mouth turned up at the corners and
she could see he forced the action. “It happens. Just showed me she wasn’t the
one who I should be with.” His blue eyes bored into her and she wondered if he
wasn’t trying to make a point.

Don’t
I know ‘it happens’.
“Well, that’s a silver-lining way to look at it.”

“Life’s short, angel. I’m learning one
needs to grab their happiness when they find it and not wait around only to
play the ‘what-if’ or ‘if-only’ game later on.”

“Good motto.” She moved to lie on her
back. “But isn’t that hard with your love ‘em and leave ‘em thing you got going
on?”

He chuckled lightly. “Now you sound
like sweetness.”

She cut her eyes to the left and found
tenderness on his face. “Sweetness?” she asked, pleased at how relatively
modulated her tone remained.

“My nickname for my sister-in-law. She
used to work for the DoJ.”Sidra Bonnaire Kysenzki had worked for the Department
of Justice—Criminal Division.

“And you call her ‘sweetness’?”

“I do.”

Did he have a thing for his
sister-in-law? “Nice. But you still haven’t answered my question.”

He rose up over her, his blond hair
stroking along her skin. Her breath hitched as she lifted a hand to touch his
face. A day’s worth of growth rubbed her palm as he seemed to burrow deeper
into her touch.

“No, I haven’t. It’s after midnight,
angel.” He nibbled along her lower lip, sending shockwaves of lust through her.
“I’ve sat beside you all day with you wearing next to nothing.”

“We’ve only been driving for four
hours.”

“And I’ll keep drivin’ for another
four, but you have to get naked first.”

Moisture gathered between her legs and
she arched against him, desperate for what she knew would come next. Then she
stepped back and did as he’d said. Got naked. She was definitely going to miss
him when they went their separate ways. A purr escaped her when he cupped a
large, calloused hand over one breast.

“Please,” she gasped.
A
sharp tingle sped through her when he
pinched the tight nipple.

“Please what?”

“Inside me.”

Her mind raced with the erotic images
of what she wanted to do with him, to him, for him. It didn’t matter. She knew
she would give him whatever he longed for. He flexed his hips and rolled the
peak in his fingers.

“Soft and slow?” he asked on a thread of
dark decadence.

“No. Fast. Hard.”
Take me like you’re claiming me as your own
.

Thuds filled the room as his boots were
kicked off. She squirmed on the coverlet when the sound of his zipper being
lowered reached her. Not long after, although it seemed like forever, he
settled between her thighs and nudged into her with his thick shaft.

“Oh yeah,” she said on a groan of
contentment as he stretched her completely. Her skin tingled with anticipation
and it was as if she floated on cloud nine.

“I agree, angel. I agree.”

Taber slipped his hands under her hips
and lifted. Her eyes rolled back when he began driving home, hard, into her.
Deep strokes. Hard thrusts. Nothing on the earth could possibly feel as right
as it did when she was joined to this man. It was more than just physical. He
touched her on a whole other level that, until him, she’d not even known
existed. It didn’t matter if it was fast or if Taber drew it out nice and slow.
The difference she now experienced was because of the man himself. And she let
herself go, trusting that Taber would lead her to where she needed to be.

* * * *

Serefina stirred and slowly opened her
eyes. Everything was sore. Turning her wrist, she activated the light on her
watch and saw it was barely after six. They’d made love most of the night, on
the bed, the floor, and even against the dresser. She was sore. Taber’s strong
arm hooked around her waist, anchored them together. With reluctance, she began
to slide out. He tightened his hold and shifted behind her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he
asked with a rasp.

“It’s after six.”

His breath warmed her ear and she
squealed when he spun her around quickly and kissed her. He stabbed deep into
her mouth and coaxed her tongue out to play. Her pussy grew wet all over again.

“I’ll ask again,” he drawled, breaking
off the kiss. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Do you really plan on staying here all
day?”

He leaned closer and brushed his
stubble along her bare shoulder. “Without a doubt. Haven’t you heard that song
by James Otto?”

“Who’s that?”

“Country singer, angel.”

“Nope. I never listened to country
until you put it on in my house.”

He tsked. “Well, he has a song titled ‘Just
Got Started Lovin’ You’.”

The very idea sounded appealing. “Sing
it,” she said.

And he did. His deep voice tugged at
every nerve and synapse within her.
Good
Lord, I think I’m beginning to realise why people listen to country.

She melted when the words began to sink
in. He spoke of how loving her was going to take forever and how he’d just
gotten started. That there was no point in fighting what they felt for they’d
never win that battle. How they should stop all the resisting and give in. He
knew she didn’t want to leave so come back and let him hold her for he just got
started loving her.

There was more but it fell on deaf
ears. Taber rolled her over and slid home in a single stroke.

“I…I think I like this James Otto,” she
said, panting as he moved within her.

He stopped and scowled down at her. The
early morning light allowed her a peek at his face. “Angel, mentioning another
man’s name when I’m sunk deep within you, not what I want to hear.”

“Serefina,” she whispered, craving the
sound of her name on his lips.

“What?”

“You always call me angel. Call me
Serefina.”

His expression softened. He slipped his
shaft within her then he lowered his mouth to hers. “Serefina LeBenoit, there
is no place in the world I would rather be than where I am right at this
moment.” A tender kiss. “And he was right about one thing, I did just get
started lovin’ you. My angel, Serefina.”

He engulfed her and she surrendered,
eager for his touch. Taber moved them from the bed to the floor. On her hands
and knees, she moaned when he entered her from behind and thrust hard. His
large hands grabbed the sides of her hips, digging into the flesh. The floor
and the worn carpet offered no give and she screamed in pleasure as he worked
her up into orgasm after orgasm. It was past noon before they surrendered to
the exhaustion hunting them. This time when she woke she was alone in the room.

With slow movements, she sat up,
keeping the white sheet over her. Taber was nowhere in sight so she got to her
feet and took a quick shower. He had returned when she stepped from the
bathroom. Her skin burned from the heat his gaze poured into her.

She bit her lower lip and smiled.
“What?”

He flashed a sexy grin. “I’m thinkin’
things that would keep us from leaving yet another day.”

“We need to get going.” Not that she
wanted to but they had a fugitive to apprehend.

With a smooth push, he got to his feet
and prowled towards her. Her insides turned to jelly and she fought down the
waves of desire for him. Each second she spent with him, she knew it would be
that much harder to leave.

“We do. Come on,” he muttered, right
before he gathered her close and covered her mouth with his until her toes
curled and her heart beat all out of control. “I’ve got some food in the
truck.”

Together, they grabbed their bags and
exited the room. Not much later, the powerful diesel charged up the interstate.
The country music filling the cab didn’t bother her in the slightest. In fact,
she caught herself listening to the words and finding it enjoyable.

Taber stared at Serefina from beneath
lowered lids. Not that it mattered—she, for one, drove, and for two, he wore
sunglasses. But still, he watched her like she wouldn’t know if she turned her
head in his direction. It had surprised him how fast he’d tossed her the keys
when she offered to drive. No one, not even his brothers, had been allowed to
drive his truck. But all Serefina had to do was give him a soft look and he was
toast.

They’d been at a truck stop for a short
break a while back, and he couldn’t begin to say how arrogantly proud he’d been
to see all the men who watched her stroll by and jump up easily into the diesel
and drive away. He should’ve known she wouldn’t have a problem driving his
truck—her Xterra was a stick shift.

So he’d grabbed a nap, and now, he
remained in the same position watching her. Country still played on the
satellite radio and he fought off a smile. The only sign she may be a bit
nervous was every so often she’d drop her hand to the shifter and caress the
knob.

The setting sun only added to her
beauty. She wore an old tee and a baggy pair of jeans along with some hiking
boots.

“Why are you staring at me?”

This time, he did smile. “How do you
know I was staring?”

“I can feel your eyes on me, Taber.
What’s wrong? Need to drive your truck? I promise I didn’t put a single scratch
on it.” Her voice was patronisingly sweet.

He sat up and ran a finger down her
cheek. “Nope, you’re doing just fine. You can drive anytime.”

Her grin flashed, fast and fierce. “I
like driving it. Big and powerful.” She glanced towards him. “Things I like.”

His cock went from semi to fully
aroused in the space of a second. “You tryin’ to get a reaction from me,
angel?”

“Maybe.” She shook her head. “No. I’m
sorry. We need to discuss how this is going to go.”

“I’ve got guns with me. I don’t know.
Let’s see the setup before we decide.”

“What about your director?”

He lifted a shoulder. “What about him?
I’m done fuckin’ around with this guy while he picks off agents at his leisure
and skates away free as a bird. Plus, if he has Forrest and Kline, we need to
get them out, not worry with the damn procedure.”

Staring at her face, he waited to see
if shock or uncertainty appeared. Neither did. In fact, the corner of her mouth
lifted into a terse grin. “You are definitely my kind of man, Taber Kysenzki. I
think I love you,” she uttered in a tone which was part laughter, part
sincerity. She downshifted smoothly and took them higher in elevation.

I
think I love you.
Words he totally took in a way much different than she
meant them.

“What is Thurgood to you?”

A tic appeared behind her molars and he
knew she struggled mightily for control. “He killed my sister.” A heavy sigh.
“I told but no one believed me.”

He frowned. “When did this happen?”

Another tense moment. “Remember I told
you how I got into this? Well, she was the casualty of that gun deal I
discovered. But no one would believe a child who’d lost her sister. But the
lead agent took an interest in me and gave me his card with the words, ‘Come to
me when you’re ready’. I got in touch with him the week before I graduated from
high school. James actually showed up and sat in the crowd at the ceremony. He
talked to my parents and I left with him to the academy.”

He thought for a moment. “James
McKeon?”

“One and the same.”

It explained why McKeon had been so
furious and protective of her the day they’d first met. When Taber had helped
botch the ATF’s sting and McKeon had seen her cuffed with her face bloodied up.
Taber faced forward and stared out the windshield. There was a lot to go over.