Saints and Assassins (The Sentinels) (23 page)

It fit perfectly.

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want. I would be more than happy to get you a more appropriate ring,” he said smiling.

“It’s perfect
. I don’t want another ring.”
She felt honored to wear his mothers’ ring.

“Can you tell me about your mother?”
She
asked. It might not be the most appropriate time, but when was?

“Her name was Helen Barry and she met my father in college. She always told me that they were madly in love from the first kiss.” Adam paused.
She
could tell there was some emotion there.

“You don’t have to talk about it,”
she told him as she placed her
hand over his.

“
It’s okay. I just don’t talk about her. Well, except to Greta.
I remember how sad and alone I felt when she passed away.” His eyes had a hint of wetness to them and then it seemed to
disappear as he smiled at her
.

“What about your father?”

“My parents married in June of 197
8
and my
father was a Chicago Police Office. He was shot
and killed during a burglary six
months later, while my mom was pregnant with me. Mom moved in with her sister that winter and then had me in March. She worked hard and always made sure I knew how proud she was of me. She got sick and passed away when I was twenty.” He looked down at the jewelry box and ran his hand over the top of it.

“She
sounds like a wonderful lady,” she
told him smiling
. “What day is your birthday?” She
realized that he had said
March
.

“It’s the seventeenth, St. Patrick’s Day,” he replied.

“That’s tomorrow isn’t it?” Adam nodded.
Eve would have wanted to do something special for his birthday, but under the
circumstances,
she couldn’t exactly have a party.

“I’m sure you may have guessed, but I know that your parents were divorced when you were two.” Adam paused. She knew he must have some questions.

“Yes. My father literally left the country and my mother raised me. She passed away
two years ago, but you probably knew that too.” Eve shrugged her shoulders, indifferent to the conversation.

“I did know that and I’m very sorry.” Adam brushed his fingers across
Eve’s knee and she shivered at the contact.
Her mood changed instantly and she couldn’t think about their conversation.

“Do you realized that this is the first
real
conversation that we’ve had
fully
clothed?” Eve couldn’t resist teasing him.

“We could change that you know.” Adam slid his hand further up her leg and squeezed her thigh.

“Down boy!” She slapped his hand and laughed.

“Oh you’re going to pay for that.” Adam lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her and they toppled to the floor.

Laughing as he pinned her
, she savored the feeling of his body against hers.
Her mind captured the moment and wondered if they would always be like this. The idea kept the smile on her face as Adam leaned to nuzzle against her cheek.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you more,” he replied. His lips trailed kisses across her cheek and down her throat.

Feeling an unexpected vibration between them, Eve arched a brow. “Is there something extra in your pants that I need to know about?
”

Adam smiled and quickly kissed her. “Sorry, phone.” Releasing her, he rocked back and sat up to retrieve the phone from his pocket.

“Go,” he stated. Adam reached toward Eve and helped pull her to an upright position. She watched the expression on his face change and she knew the moment had been stolen away. Knowing that whoever was on the other end of the conversation must be giving him information about the assassins, sent a chill through her.

Eve decided to go to the other room while Adam talked. Even though she wanted to know what was being said, she didn’t care to only hear half of the conversation
. Adam would give her a full recap when he was off the phone and she could wait that long.

She wandered into Adam’s bedroom and stared out the window.
The beautiful view of the city from his building actually left her thinking she might miss Chicago.

Just a few minutes passed when she heard Adam’s footsteps. Tilting her head to the side slightly, she saw him come up behind her. He slid his hands around her stomach and pulled her body against his.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Eve leaned her head back, looked up at her six foot three sex model, and smiled. “I’m perfect.”

“Good.”

They
spent the afternoon talking about possible locations to run away to.
Italy
.
Mexico
.
France
. Just
about anywhere was fine with her
.
Eve
decided to prepare dinner and realized that there wasn’t anything to fix. So
, they
ordered a pizza.

While
they
waited for
pizza,
Adam started
a fire in the bedroom. Eve got them each a
beer and joined him by the fire. Just as
they
got
comfortable,
his cell phone rang.

“Greta is on her way up with the pizza.” Eve couldn’t help but notice that Adam beamed with the statement. She didn’t want to be jealous, but sh
e was anxious to meet this woman and see what was so special about her
.
S
he
didn’t want to
have to pub
lically stake her claim on Adam, but she would.

“Come on, I want you to meet Greta
.” Adam pulled her up and they headed into the great room.

“Oh I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Eve said sarcastically. Adam glanced down at her and laughed.

“I forgot you were jealous
.
”

“I’m not jealous!”
Eve slapped Adam on the behind
. He
turned toward her with a startled look on his face.

Grabbing her
by the waist, Adam pulled her against his body. “You’re going to pay for that later,” he whispered. His
lips brushed against her ear and it sent a chill through her body.

“
I like the sound of that, I think.” Eve giggled.
She didn’t know what he had in mind for later, but she wanted to find out.

“We have a guest. So behave for five minutes.” Adam
let her go and stalked to the door.

Eve waited anxiously
by a chair
as Adam opened the door. The anxiety over meeting Greta had returned
with a vengeance.
Female hormones were the worst thing to get your mind twisted into an anxious spin and she hated them. There was absolutely no reason for Eve to be jealous of Greta, but in reality she was. Taking a deep breath, she waited.

Adam pulled the door open and much to her surprise in steppe
d a petite blond woman. Eve grinned ear to ear, as she understood why she shouldn’t be jealous. As Eve had guessed, Greta was very pretty, but she was also old enough to be Adam’s
mother at least.

“Hi Greta!” Adam exclaimed.

“Here is your pizza
,
Adam and I brought this too.” Greta handed
him the pizza and a bottle of champagne.

“You didn’t need to do that.” Adam held up the bottle and looked at the label. He turned toward Eve.

“Eve, this is Greta.
” He winked at Eve.

“
Let me put these down.”
Adam stepped toward the kitchen and Eve moved to welcome Greta.

“Hello, I’m Eve Nash
.” Eve held her hand out for her.

Instead of taking her hand, Greta pulled Eve into a hug. She felt the warmth of family fill her. “It is such a pleasure to finally meet you after all this time.”

Adam stood next to them now.

Bending down, he kissed Greta on the cheek, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with just that. She pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re both back safely,” she said quietly.

“I think we both are,” Adam repli
ed. Glancing at Eve, he winked again. This was something that she hadn’t seen him do and twice now within just a few minutes she’d seen a new trait to his personality and she loved it.

“Please sit down.” Adam held his arm toward a chair for Greta. He pulled Eve to sit next to him on the sofa.

“Well, am I to understand that congratulations are in order?” Greta asked.

Eve looked at Adam and smiled.
Adam nodded and lifted Eve’s left hand to show Greta the ring.

“Oh Adam, your mothers’ ring! She would be so happy.
” Greta clasped her hands with excitement. “
I
had
brought the cham
pagne in hopes of a celebration,
”
she added.
Eve couldn’t mistake the wetness that formed in Greta’s eyes. As strange as the past few days had been,
she suddenly felt whole again. The idea of even a small family meant more to her than anything in the world.

Adam offered to open the champagne, but Greta declined and told them to enjoy it alone. She stayed for just a f
ew more minutes before she left, wishing them a safe journey
, wherever they might go.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever had champagne with pizza before,” Adam said. He drank down the last of his champagne and let out a sigh.

Eve yawned.

“Not yet you don’t,” he scolded. He watched Eve arch a brow and that
mischievous smile that he loved spread across her face.

Adam meti
culously stacked their plates, set them aside and stacked their
champagne glasses on them
.

“Now. I believe you owe me something.” Adam had been scheming for two hours about how he would make her pay for slapping him on the ass. If she wanted to play
that
way, then he would be more than happy to return the gesture.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Eve rolled her eyes at him
and a small giggle escaped.

Adam loved the sound of her laugh and to see her joy reassured him that he had done the right thing by watching over her all this time. He loved her more than his own life and would do anything to protect her from danger. Well, except from himself.

“
You know you’re going to pay up for that move earlier.” Reaching across the rug, he grabbed her leg and pulled her toward him.

“Oh my,” Eve
whispered.

Adam wanted her mouth on his body. He wanted to feel the heat of her breath across his skin and the mere thought hardened his body. For so long, he had hoped that he might find himself in this situation and now that he had her, he wanted to savor every moment.

“What is my punishment?” Eve leaned toward him and he couldn’t resist tasting her. Her soft lips molded against his and when she moaned i
nto his mouth, he had to stop
.

“
That mouth of yours is dangerous
.” Adam watched as her tongue ran across her lower lip and he almost came at the si
ght of it. 
Her lips parted as she smiled and he wanted her, now. Quickly, he stood up and went
to take Eve’s hand so they could go to bed, but much to his surprise she reached up and rubbed her hand across his erection.

Adam let out a moan
and dropped his head back.

“Let’s go to bed,” he plead.

“No,” she replied. Adam didn’t move at her response.
He felt Eve undo his pants and
reach in to cup him. The feeling of her hand against his skin sent him into a frenzy. He doubted that he would make it very long at all if she placed her mouth on him.

Looking down, Adam watched her free him
and take him into her hands.

“Leave your hands to
your
sides,” he panted. While it felt better than he deserved, he wanted to fuc
k her mouth with h
er hands down.

Eve glanced up at him as she took him into her mouth and giggled. The vibration of her throat against him almost unmanned him.

She pulled back and when she returned, she went further than before
. The sight of her mouth stretching over him heightened his arousal further. Hi
s instincts left him wanting instant satisfaction, but he wanted to savor the moment.