Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 (14 page)

On
Saturday, after the morning meeting but before the evening raid, Chaz had packed
his personal belongings and put them in the SUV that had most recently been
rented for him to drive during this assignment. He only needed to return to the
extended-stay suite one last time after the operation was over to help take
down the electronic equipment, seal it as evidence, and debrief Jesse and
Sydney. Barring any unforeseen situation that they might have observed via the
monitors during the raid and interrogations, the team would have everything
packed within an hour.

As
with everything else that day, the debriefing and shutting down of the
equipment went without problems. Jesse would take the hard drives that stored
the many hours of surveillance data directly to the FBI Field Office and check
them into the evidence room. No one would touch the package until the forensics
team began its evaluation. Monday would bring the debriefing by Chaz’s
superiors and the beginning of what would be a mountain of paperwork followed
by depositions and the filing of affidavits over the coming weeks.

Chaz
didn’t care about any of that; he was going home.

At
6:53 on Sunday morning, Stephanie awoke to the sound of the garage door rising.
She jumped out of bed and rushed down the hall and stairs just as her husband
stepped from the mud room into the kitchen. His smile broadened at hearing her
laughter as she launched herself into his arms.

Strong
arms wrapped around her as Chaz lifted his wife off the ground and her momentum
spun them around in a circle. She dropped kisses all over his face until his
lips pressed against hers in an exchange so tender and intense that it left
both of them breathless.

“It’s
Sunday.” He sighed as he rested his forehead against hers.

“Yes,
it is.”

“I
kept my promise.”

“Yes,
you did.” A finger traced along the edge of his jaw and ran lightly down his
neck. She kissed his throat. “And, I’m going to keep mine.” She tilted her head
toward the mud room.

“Uh
uh. Later.” Chaz kissed the tip of her nose. “I plan on taking you upstairs to
the bed I’ve missed and making love to you like I could barely live without
you—which is true—and making both of us forget that we’ve been apart for more than
a month. Once we’re exhausted, I’m going to hold you tight against me until we
wake up from our sex-induced comas. Then I’m going to feed you, because I know
you’ll need your strength before we start round two. But first—” He lowered her
so that her feet touched the floor, knelt, lifted the thin fabric of her short
nightgown, and kissed her belly. “I missed you, too,” he said softly to their
unborn child before wrapping his arms around Stephanie’s hips and pressing his
face against her warm body.

Stephanie’s
hands stroked her husband’s head for as long as he stayed on his knees, her
fingers playing with the deep brown hair that had grown long enough that it had
started curling around his ears. When he stood, Chaz told her to wrap her legs
around him as his lips brushed the sensitive spot behind her ear. He carried
her up the stairs with no space at all between their bodies.

They
only separated for the few seconds it took to get undressed.

“No
foreplay,” Stephanie demanded as her husband began dropping kisses from her
throat, over her breast, and down her stomach. She scooted backward on the bed,
her hand wrapped around his neck, pulling him with her. “I need to feel you
inside me, Chaz. I need—” Her words were cut off by his hungry lips.

Her
body was ready when she reached between them and guided his steel-hard shaft
into her warm, moist center. His mouth and tongue devoured her with the same
rhythm that rocked their bodies together. Stephanie moved her legs so that they
were pulling his thighs tighter against her, forcing him deeper into her.

“Oh,
baby, you feel so good.” He moaned against her lips before moving to take a
nipple into his mouth.

Stephanie
arced in response to the thrill that shot from her breast to the center of her
body and down to her toes. Her first climax hit her unexpectedly. Yes, she had
missed him. Still she didn’t appreciate his teasing chuckle. He pushed her long
hair aside so that his teeth could lightly nip her neck as he waited for her
body to relax.

“I
guess you did need me.”

“Always.”

“Good,
because we are just getting started.” He slid down her body, leaving kisses
everywhere until he reached her right ankle. Then, he switched to the other leg
and sucked a path to the neatly trimmed triangle between her thighs. “I’ve
missed your scent and the way you taste,” was the warning he gave before his
mouth clamped hungrily onto the tender skin and his tongue darted into her for
a long stroke of the entire length of her opening. She wiggled. He chuckled,
causing vibrations to make her moan. It didn’t take long for his skilled tongue
exploring the walls of her sex and his teeth grazing against that tight bundle
of nerves to bring her to a second orgasm more powerful than the first.

He
looked up at his wife as she propped on her elbows so that she could see him. Their
smiling eyes met. His tongue continued to move slowly until he was sure that
she had sufficiently recovered before one finger and then another joined the
assault on her body. His free hand pressed down on her hips to keep her still. Completely
at his mercy, she groaned and flopped back onto the bed with a laugh. Another
chuckle from him sent more vibrations through her.

After
the third orgasm, Chaz moved back up her body, sucking and nibbling until his
mouth reached her lips. Then, he drew back and looked down into her face.

“You
are the most amazing, sexiest woman I’ve ever met, and I’m lost without you,
sweetheart.” He kissed her tenderly. “Totally lost,” was barely a whisper as
the fingers of one hand linked with hers. He held their joined hands between
them and against his heart.

His
shaft entered her and moved in the wonderful rhythm they both had missed.
Stephanie’s golden-brown eyes never left her husband’s face as his body
demanded she surrender everything to him. She wrapped her legs around him,
holding them as close as possible while her body squeezed around his shaft in
sync with the way they moved. Tears of joy and completeness filled her eyes as
his forehead pressed against hers and he told her over and over that he loved
her before loudly moaning her name as white-hot explosions sucked the air from
their lungs. Exhausted, he collapsed on top of her until he could stop
trembling enough to wrap his arms tightly around her and roll onto his back,
pulling her securely against him.

“You
own me, too, Chaz. I’m nothing without you.” Stephanie pressed a kiss against
his chest before she fell asleep with one leg thrown possessively over his
thighs. His fingers gently traced the dream catcher tattoo on her back and
thanked fate for bringing her—and her gift—into his life.

True
to his word, the couple spent most of the day caressing and kissing each other,
eating light meals when they wanted to, making love whenever the passion hit
them. They soaked in the tub and talked about Stephanie’s job, her godson, and
her best friends. While his hands lovingly moved in gentle patterns across her
belly, she repeated everything the doctor had said at her last Ob/Gyn visit, laughed
about the things she’d found in parenting books, and described some of the
furniture she thought would look nice in the baby’s room. From his position
behind her, Chaz rested his chin on her shoulder and said that she could have
anything she wanted.

Stephanie
sighed and closed her eyes. All she really wanted was him—brilliant, loyal,
strong, caring, vulnerable—and the life they were building. She felt the
longing stir between her thighs and knew that she also would never get enough
of his body. Her hand rested on top of his, caressing the thickening middle
section of her body where their child was growing.

She
had everything she could possibly want.

~
~ ~ ~ ~

As
expected, Chaz and the two FBI technicians spent most of Monday morning being
debriefed by Roy Gifford. Everyone had taken notes on names, date, situations; forensic
evaluation of the hard drives containing the actual videos from the surveillance
cameras would corroborate their observations. They spent the afternoon and most
of the next day writing the formal reports that would be forwarded to the Louisville
field office involved in filing charges against Damien Granger.

“What
about Paul Watkins?” Roy had wanted to know.

Chaz
shook his head in frustration. No one wanted that man put away more than he
did. But he had to admit, “He wasn’t among the people rounded up at the club.
All we can do is hope that he turns up in someone else’s jurisdiction where he
can be taken into custody.”

“Well,
I’m definitely relieved that there finally might be enough information to make
filing charges against him feasible.”

“Yeah,
me too.” Chaz thought about all of the cases that would add together. Their
reports would be forwarded to the appropriate field offices. It still bothered
him that Watkins was so far away from his normal territory. His instincts told
him that that was significant.

“Well,
we have some good news on that matter. Steve McDaniels is going to be cleared
to return to work in a week. Now that he isn’t needed on the Granger case, his
job will be to make sure that our office is represented in whatever analysis
the Bureau does regarding Watkins. Don’t be surprised if he calls you in to
clarify something that might have occurred in your case in Pennsylvania as well
as this one.”

Chaz
simply nodded.

Roy
took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, frowned, and turned away from his subordinate’s
cubicle. He’d only taken a few steps before turning back.

“I
forgot to tell you about the interrogation of that technician who was working
with you: Brian Pleasant. As you suspected, he was working for Paul Watkins.
We’re still trying to get specific details about their interaction, but
Pleasant is trying to negotiate a deal. I’ll let you know what comes of that so
it can be added as a footnote to your reports.”

Since
Roy was already walking away, he couldn’t have seen the troubled expression on
Chaz’s face. That tidbit of information said a lot. When Steve returned to
work, Chaz was going to ask if there was any way to be put on the team
analyzing the charges against Watkins; there was no way he wanted second-hand
information. He’d work his case and that one, would work overtime if necessary.
He just didn’t want anything that might affect him to be overlooked or not
taken seriously. The fact that Watkins had a spy in Cincinnati, whether he knew
Chaz’s identity or not, was definitely something to be worried about.

That
was on his mind when he arrived home a couple of hours later. Stephanie could
see that he was distracted but decided not to butt in. He’d tell her what she
needed to know in his own time—or her gift would decide it for him.

Her
gift.

With
each day, she was more and more convinced that she was developing something
new, or at least something deeper. Just like her dreams, the visions she had
while awake counted as precognition. But what was happening to her was
different in a way she couldn’t define.

Did
she want to define it? Did she want her gift to dig deeper into the world
around her? She looked at her husband who was sitting beside her on the sofa in
the family room and made an easy decision. Her husband is a Federal officer of
the law. If her gift could keep him safe, then yes, she would embrace it and
use it in any way possible. She snuggled a little closer to the man she loved
and pulled his arm more tightly around her shoulders.

~
~ ~ ~ ~

That
Sunday night, Stephanie received a call from Karen that she put on speaker so
that Chaz could hear.

“Are
you sure you’re feeling okay?” the other woman was asking.

“Actually,
I feel a little anxious, but it’s nothing significant.”

“Maybe
it’s more significant than you think. You know that I don’t get off kilter
unless you are. So, we need to talk this through. What’s going on there that’s
new, or different, or stressful?”

Stephanie
and Chaz looked at each other. She shook her head and shrugged. He frowned.

“I’m
working on a case that has me worried,” he admitted. It only took everyone a quick
moment to digest that.

“But,
Karen shouldn’t be connected to you,” Stephanie said more to herself than the
others.

“You’re
right. So, the only thing I can think of is that you’re picking up his stress
and I’m picking up yours, which is coming from him. Let’s see whether something
happens with your gift in the next couple of days. If it does, this probably
means that you need to be more sensitive to whatever transition your gift is
going through. You’re going to need to recognize it sooner.”

Stephanie
thought about that for a moment before saying, “A few days ago, I was thinking
that I’m willing to use my gift in whatever way that’s necessary to help Chaz
do his job. Maybe you’re right that the only way to do that is to be able to
react more quickly.”