Love in Electric Blue (Westlake Enterprises) (14 page)

She liked to think he couldn’t help himself. Better to not be the only one enthralled by a charming personality and devastating looks.

She waved back, and he smiled before turning to dive under the waves again. A perfect paradise, if not for the threat of Benjamin Carter.

She sighed. The Westlake team remained tucked behind palm trees and in the shadows of Brooks’s private alcove, out of sight but there for protection. Two and a half days in Mexico should have been enough time to give Carter a chance to make his move. At least, that was J.D.’s excuse for extending their stay. They hadn’t found anything of interest in Brooks’s papers or computer files. Nothing around town panned out either. Personally, she thought J.D. had grown used to having her at his beck and call away from reality. On her knees, her back, her front…

She flushed at the remembrance of how he’d woken her this morning, taking her from behind, so slowly she’d begged him to finish her. Each time he came inside her, she lit up, feeling so close to him.

Remy wished their idyll could last forever. Time passed, and she drifted as the sun’s rays warmed her into a hazy euphoria, the solar energy feeding her natural potential. The warm white sand under her beach towel cushioned her, and she basked in the cooling breeze of paradise.

She dreamed that she and J.D. laughed and enjoyed a romantic dinner over a candlelit table. He took her hand in his and kissed it before declaring, “I love you, Remy. Forever.”

“Forever,” she breathed.

Then he put a ring on her finger. A giant square-cut sapphire, the same color as his eyes. The ring sparkled, a bright reflection of her future with the perfect man at her side.

“I trust you won’t make this difficult.”

“Hmm,” she agreed. Of course not. She wanted to marry him, to carry his children and start a new life together, free from— “Ow.” She flinched at the sharp pinch in her neck and blinked up at a dark form leaning over her.

She couldn’t focus. She felt weak. And though she felt herself being lifted into strong arms, she couldn’t find it in her to care. She caught a glimpse of the sunlight sparkling off the clear, blue water, the same color of her lover’s eyes, and smiled, knowing J.D. was near.

J.D. poked his head out of the water and looked around, confused when he didn’t see Remy. He glanced around him and then back to her towel. He hadn’t drifted that far, and he knew the security team watched from the shadows. Still, unease gripped him.

Heeding his instincts, he left the water and searched for her. Not wanting to panic, but unable to ignore his sudden worry, he hurried into the tiny jungle separating Brooks’s house from the ocean. Along the path, he saw no one, not even a hint of the security team. Not good.

“Remy?”

She didn’t answer, and he continued, moving faster, planning to see if she’d returned to the house. That made more sense than that she’d been abducted in the plain light of day, mere feet from where he’d been swimming.

Before he could leave the tiny tropical area, three men stepped out in front of him. Two looked like locals, while the other carried a gun and fit the description Brooks had given them of Lennox, Carter’s right-hand man. There was no mistaking that scar, and J.D. remembered more than he wanted to about this asshole.

Lennox waved his gun in the direction of the house. “If you want to see her again, you’ll come with us.” His voice sounded raspy, as if he’d injured his vocal cords at some time in his past.

J.D. considered his options. Remy had to be somewhere near. He’d just seen her a few minutes ago. Yet no one came to his aid, so Jurek’s men had either gone after her, or the secret security team had been found out and dispatched.

Betting on the latter and imbued with a sudden need to see his lover with his own eyes, he didn’t think about it. He shot a chain of energy at the men, shocking them all into helpless tremors. The power coursing through him was addictive and dangerous, because it took all his focus to control and left him wanting more. Just like that day in the office with Remy, he had a hard time holding on to his thoughts, lost in that all-consuming energy.

Remy
, he thought, determined to find her again. He soldiered through his disorientation and concentrated on her. He leaned down to grab Lennox’s gun, then broke the hold he had over the men and rushed forward. There was no telling how many people Lennox had brought. And God forbid Carter get his hands on his niece again. The fear of that happening cut through J.D.’s remaining fog and put him in the here and now.

He opened his mind’s eye and did what came naturally. Except instead of letting his energy course through the computers he so often worked on, he let the power flow into the air, settling on the vast currents all around him. And then…
there
. Remy’s pattern.

He found her lying on a lounger by Brooks’s pool, as if taking in some sun. She murmured his name once then didn’t move, not even when he gently shook her. He checked her pulse. Sluggish, but she didn’t appear injured anywhere.

He took her in his arms and carried her inside, yelling for someone to bring him a phone. Rosa raced into the living room, her eyes wide, and handed him a landline. Without pausing, he dialed the team’s emergency number, not surprised when no one answered.

Now concerned for the team as well as Remy, he did the only thing he could. “Rosa, have Miguel keep an eye on the house. No one is to enter, okay?”

“
Si,
señor.
Is Remy all right?”

“She’ll be fine. Could you make her a cup of tea?”

She nodded and left.

He took advantage of the opportunity to deliberately shove his energy into Remy. But this time he had another purpose than to give her pleasure. He wrapped her in power, burning the drugs out of her system until she moaned his name again.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Open those pretty eyes for me.” He stroked her hair, so relieved to hear her that he wanted to stand up and shout. Holy hell, but the woman made him crazy. In the short time they’d been together, she’d wormed her way into his heart as if she’d never left.

Unsure what to do about his feelings, yet glad to know she’d be okay, he petted her hair and whispered how much he needed her to wake.

“J-Joshua?” she asked, his name slurred yet understandable. “You okay?”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I am now. Wake up, honey. I need you with me so I can find out what happened to our guys.”

It took her a few moments, but she managed to sit up with his help. She shook her head. “What happened?”

“Carter attacked. I need to get back outside and find our people. I left Lennox and two thugs unconscious on the grounds.” But he couldn’t leave her without knowing she’d be okay. “Can you be on guard here? Your energy good?”

She rubbed her forehead. “I have a mother of a headache, but I’m back. Thanks.” She grabbed his hand when he stood to leave.

“Remy?”

She pulled him close, and he bent down, concerned. Then she kissed him.

The spark between them flared.

“Thank you.”

He nodded, bemused by the love he felt. So clear, so pure. Despite everything, she was
it
for him.

“Go. Find our guys.” She shooed him toward the doorway. “I’ll be here, and I’ll watch out for Rosa and Miguel.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you watch out for yourself too, woman.”

“Yes, dear,” she teased, but the glow of power in her eyes relieved him.

He left the house and hurried to where he’d left Lennox and his boys. And found no one.
“Shit.”
He hurried through the thick vegetation bordering the backyard and found four of their five-man team alive but unconscious. The fifth member hadn’t fared so well. A bullet between his eyes had finished him off.

Saddened and furious at the loss, J.D. returned to the house, and with Miguel, brought the others in to check them over. After a call to Jurek, they decided to bring everyone back to the States. A funeral was in order, as was a new plan to deal with Carter.

The bastard would know J.D. and Remy were together again. Fucking Lennox. He’d been a prick back when he’d been a lab tech. Now, as Carter’s right-hand man, or whatever the hell role he played, he was an even bigger shithead.

J.D. turned to see Remy watching him with concern. She knelt by one of their agents and nodded at something he said, but J.D. knew she only half heard him.

She patted the guy on the knee and rejoined J.D. “What now?”

“Our flight leaves tomorrow. Time to rally and come up with a new plan. This mess doesn’t feel right. I don’t like it.” Taking down Lennox and his accomplices should have been more difficult, despite losing a man. Carter knew what Remy could do, and J.D. as well. Unless they hadn’t realized who he really was. Not J.D. Morgan, but Joshua David Moran. Still, the Benjamin Carter J.D. had known left little to chance.

“You think it was a test,” she said slowly. “I agree.” She stared at the others and her mouth firmed into a thin line. “We passed; he failed. Time we raised the stakes with Dr. Carter, don’t you think?”

“What do you have in mind?” He liked this side of her. Lying unconscious, she’d been too fragile, too vulnerable. But now, with fire in her eyes, she made him want her all over again.
This
woman could handle him. In all ways.

“We go back and have another look at everything we know about him. Then we take him down. All the way. No going back.”

“No going back,” he agreed. Not on this job or on their fledgling relationship, such as it was. He’d lost her once before. This time, he intended to see Carter pay for his mistakes. Then they’d see just what the future had in store for them—together. “That’s a promise, sweetheart.” He paused when her eyes widened. “Or a threat. Take it either way.”

Chapter Eleven

Two days later, J.D. sat with his boss, Remy, Max and Cole around the conference table in the Buchanan building. J.D. wanted to go back to Cozumel and sit with Remy in that big tub, just the two of them.

“I don’t like any of this.” Jurek frowned at the rest of the room. “We knew Carter would track you to Brooks and Cozumel. But giving up like that? So easily? It doesn’t fit.”

Max nodded. “I agree. Of the five men, he killed one.”

Jurek’s eyes darkened, his pain real. They’d had the funeral for their downed man yesterday. He’d had no family, but a host of friends in attendance.

Max said softly, “Granted, that’s one too many, but Carter’s men let the others go? And it’s too much a coincidence his men disappeared and you two came back without a scratch. No offense, J.D., but you have to admit this looks like a setup, not a real kidnapping.”

“Yeah, I know.” J.D. looked at Remy, his eyes narrowed in thought. Since arriving back in Savannah yesterday, they hadn’t spoken. Jurek and Max had given them respective protection details. She and he had made so much progress in Mexico, learning about one another. Now it felt like they’d regressed. He didn’t like it one bit. “Remy, your thoughts?”

She flushed when she noticed all eyes glued to her. “I think Carter wanted to know what you can do. And I think he wants you back as badly as he wants me.”

“That’s my guess,” Jurek concurred. “I think it’s time you two disappeared for a little while. I’m putting Hunter on this one. He can track down our mad scientist’s lab.” He turned to Max. “Unless you were planning on using him?”

Hunter, once one of Jurek’s top agents, now worked as an independent with his wife. They routinely took cases for Westlake and Buchanan Investigations. The man could track anyone and anything. It made sense to use him, even if he’d prove to be a pain in the ass, as he usually did.

Max protested a little too loudly, to J.D.’s way of thinking, “Oh
no
. I wouldn’t dream of taking him from you.”

“Only because I’m having to foot the bill,” Jurek grumbled. “He’s not cheap.”

“I know. But he’s less hostile under your direction.” Max winked at Remy, and his good humor seemed to calm her nerves. “But we might want to rethink the matter of J.D. and Remy hiding out together. The temptation to grab them might be too great for Carter to resist.”

“That’s what we want,” J.D. countered. He itched to take the bastard out, especially after Cozumel. Such a needless death. “Carter’s got to stop hiding and come after us.” Though he wanted her far from danger, he knew Remy would be safest with him by her side.

“Yes, but we don’t want him to get his hands on you to do it.” Max turned to Jurek. “Perhaps we should separate them to slow Carter down. I could stick Remy with Cole, and you—”

“No.”
J.D. didn’t want Cole anywhere near her. “You don’t know Carter like we do. Cole can’t protect her like I can.”

“Bullshit.” Cole glared at him. “I’ve been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you have. Besides, we’ll pull Thorne and Luc in, make it a party. No one will get near you.”

Remy finally seemed to wake up. She frowned. “I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

“Oh really?” J.D. asked. “What about the beach? You nearly got yourself kidnapped.”

“That’s because I was distracted,” she shot back.

“Oh?” Cole asked.

“By what?” Max added.

J.D. smirked, remembering he’d been swimming at the time, and she’d been watching him. “Do tell. What distracted you?”
My little former virgin.