Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (19 page)

“I love him so much,” he admitted.

Elizabeth kissed him softly on the lips. “You think he doesn’t know that? Your brother loves you too, and so do I.”

Callen thought about their children. “EJ is lucky. I know CJ will keep him safe.”

“Yeah, or get him tossed in jail. That’s still up in the air, thanks to you reprobates.”

He
laughed, the tension in his body easing. “Still want to get soapy with me?”

“Hell yeah, Mr. Whitefox. You bet I do.”

With that, she allowed Callen to carry her off to the small bathroom. This was going to be interesting, and honestly she couldn’t wait.

             
                   *     *     *

The scent of flowers filled his senses. In his dream, he was lying in a field of them.

In reality, he was on a couch with Jaxon pressed to his body. The sun was rising
, and he could hear the birds outside. Despite having to sleep on a couch, he was pretty happy. After all, when in his life was this going to happen again?

In fact, they weren’t just lying against each other
. The woman was twined around his body. Jaxon’s hair was wrapped around his wrist, her leg was between his, and her face was buried in the crook of his neck.

Now, he only wished they were completely naked.

In his opinion, that would make it a million times better. As her soft breasts were pressed to his torso, he took in the sweet sensation of having her in his arms.

It was heaven.

Oh yeah, and it was hell.

Already his
libido was stirring. From where her body rested, once she woke up, there’d be no hiding his response to her. Well, he was going to go with the fact he was a male, and there was a sexy woman on top of him. It was simply a physiological response.

Yeah, she wasn’t going to buy that at all.

Damn!

He was out of his element here.

There was no doubt. He was going to have to call in the big guns and get some advice.

And soon.

Jax slowly pulled from sleep. It occurred to her that for once, she slept like a rock.

Then,
it was apparent why.

The last thing she recalled was sitting on the couch in the dark with Tony, and now she was…

Lying on him.

Holy shit!

What they hell had she done? Keeping her body perfectly still, Jaxon weighed her options. Until she figured a way out of this, she needed to stay calm.

Taking in the situation, she analyzed her predicament. Beneath her was Tony. Her hand was on his chest with her fingers in his chest hair. God! She wanted to run them back and forth.

It took all her willpower not to do just that.

Since her
leg was wedged between his, she was well aware that he was aroused. Yeah, this was going to suck. The man was already awake. The telltale thumping in his chest and throbbing against her hip was giving it away.

Despite the situation, p
art of her was thrilled.

Yet
, the majority of her was scared shitless.

This was her co-worker. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Breathing in the scent of soap, it offered her some calm. Well, they couldn’t stay like this all day. Someone had to move. Sliding her hand down his chest to signal she was awake, his body shook.

That simple act
delighted her.

“Good morning, Jaxon,” he said
huskily.

Lifting her head, her eyes met his
. Somehow, the five o’clock shadow made him look even sexier. He was tousled and just waking up. It made her long to see if this was what he looked like every morning.

Holy heck!

He was
incredibly attractive.

“Uh, good morning,” she answered
, unsure what the proper protocol for a situation like this would be.

“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to tame the lower half of hi
s body with only his thoughts, except it wasn’t working at all.

“No, I’m not okay,” she replied,
sharing the truth. After all, she’d used him as her pillow. Why start to lie now?

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

Jaxon laughed. “Uh, what’s there to discuss? I barely know you, and now I’m sleeping on your body.”

His heart sunk. Maybe she wasn’t feeling what he was after all. “So, are you saying it’s
totally awkward or horrifying?”

She stared at him, caught off guard by his blatant honesty. There was no way she thought he’d ask that. This scenario was far from horrifying. It was too pleasurable
, and she never wanted it to end.

Jax swallowed. “
Oh, it’s very awkward.”

He relaxed, especially since she wasn’t exactly rushing to get away from him.

“Before I sleep with someone, even in this context, I generally like to know them better. I usually kiss a man before falling asleep with him.”

She couldn’t believe she said that.

Holy shit!

It was official.
She was out of control.

Jaxon Armstrong had sexy doctor on the brain.

Tony listened to what she had to say, and then decided to make a move. After all, they were pressed together. There was no way she was missing the pink elephant in the room.

His state of arousal
was obvious.

Bringing his lips to hers, he gently
gave her what she wanted. The kiss was soft, delicate, and didn't hurry anything. In fact, it coaxed her from the awkwardness.

Slowly, she kissed him back.

His heart soared.

Jaxon’s pulse thudded beneath
his palm on her neck.

This moment was everything he thought it would be. From the second their lips touched, heat swelled
, rushing through him as it filled his life with peace.

Jax fell into the kiss. She slid up his body until she was in the perfect position to allow her mouth to move over his. Lips caressed
and tongues explored as she let go of her fear. For now, she was enjoying the feel of the sexy doctor’s embrace.

Never in her life had she felt this before.

It was absolutely amazing.

When his entire body went taut beneath hers, there was such a power that rushed through her. Doctor Tony Magnus wanted her.

From this kiss, there could be no doubt.

Then, reality came crashing back. Slowly, she pulled away, only to stare down into his eyes. They were filled with so much
emotion that she was too afraid to read into it.

“Still awkward?” he asked, hoping she wouldn’t say yes.

“I don’t have words for it.”

Yet, she looked like she was ready to bolt.

Instinctually, he went with logic since that was safe ground for him. “Well, think of it this way. Early man didn't date long. They found the female they wanted, went after her, and made them hers. It’s part of our species and instilled in our DNA.”

She stared at him.
Well, awkward was gone and horror was now taking its place. His dismissal of the moment took the wind right out of her sails. For a minute there, she thought he wanted her for more than some ingrained instinct.

Yeah, she’s been wrong.

Jaxon couldn’t help but feel the sting of his words as a heated blush filled her cheeks. Now, she’d do what she did best in life.

Escape.

Pulling away, he saw the notable change. Gone was the woman he was kissing a minute ago, and in her place was someone completely void of all feeling.

“Jax?” he asked, watching her move away from him.

She couldn’t even look at him. “I’ll meet you outside. We have autopsies to watch. It’s time to get to work.”

With just those few words, he knew the truth.

Tony Magnus had screwed up.

Yeah, it was official.

He needed help on this one before he burned it to the ground.

~ Chapter Five ~

  
Devil’s Lake Morgue

Elizabeth and Callen were the
next to arrive, right after the ME and techs. They stood in the small space holding their coffees as they waited for the festivities to begin.

No one liked autopsies, but it was the element of the beast. In their lines of work, you had to be willing to stand over the dead, even as they were cut open.

“As soon as Tony gets here, I’ll begin,” Zane said. “I have to admit, I’m curious as hell to unwrap our victims.”

Yeah, that wasn’t a word Elizabeth could use at that moment. In their past, she’d found that when things were opened up, ba
d surprises were bound to be found.

She didn't want to be Pandora and release anything out there that she couldn’t contain.
One day, it was bound to happen.

“Sorry we’re late,” muttered Tony, entering the room.

Elizabeth glanced over, and his face said it all. Normally, her anthro was happy and pleasant. Today, he looked off his game. Since the woman beside him was saying nothing, she had to make assumptions.

Uh oh.
This was going to be bad.

It was hard to miss
Callen giving her the look. It screamed
‘I told you so’
, and he might just be right. Maybe the men in her life had been correct. Cupid might not have a place on a crime scene.

“I’m just
about to begin,” Doctor Legend stated.

Tony suited up,
quickly pulling on the scrubs and gloves. This wasn’t his first time assisting an ME. Even without Chris in the morgue, they were a well-oiled team.

Now, he wished he didn't feel so off-balance.

There was no way he could miss that Doctor Armstrong was keeping her distance. Tony hoped it was because of the fleshy victims and not his earlier faux pas.

“I’m starting with this one, only because I feel something sticking out of the chest cavity,” Zane admitted.

Elizabeth didn't care either way. It was obvious that curiosity was getting ready to kill the Native cat.

Moving closer,
as the man began snipping his way through the strips of cloth wrapped around the body, they all prepared for what lie beneath. As Tony held out an evidence bag, Zane dropped them in, one by one.

“Doctor A
rmstrong, please move closer,” Doctor Legend stated.

Reluctantly, she did just that.

Tony watched as his co-worker got down to the skin.

“Walk us through it, Doctor,” Elizabeth said. “We have to hit the ground running on this.” Where Chris wouldn’t guess, Zane was a little more
forthcoming with his information.

“We have a woman. There’s an incision on the left side of her body
, and I’ll add that it was done sloppily. The person who did this didn't take their time. It looks like he hacked away at her.”

One of the techs made notes for the ME.

Slowly, he finished unwrapping her. When her head was completely uncovered, they stared down at her. At one time, she’d been attractive. Now, death had changed all that.

Immediately, Zane began his preliminary check on the victim. He lifted the eyelids and noticed his boss looked away. That made him curious. “She’s been doused with frankincense
. It’s even in her hair,” he stated.

Far be it for Elizabeth to tell her ME how to do his job, but she couldn’t help it.
“I hate to point out the obvious, Doc, but there’s something sticking out of the place you’d normally find her heart. Can we start there?” Elizabeth asked.

Zane stuck his hand in the wound to dig out the stray object.

The sucking sound was absolutely disgusting.

“It’s not all blood,” he muttered, trying to
unwedge the object from the chest cavity. Slowly pulling out his hand, he rubbed his fingers together. “Whoever did this dumped more frankincense in the wound.

When he picked up the snips to
further crack open her chest, they all moved back. No one wanted to be splattered with blood and oil.