JoshuasMistake Page 8

  She might be a battle-trained Psi Agent, but she was also a woman and what woman didn’t love new clothes? She put on the shorts and shirt and rejoined the men at the table.

  Will was speaking when she sat down. “I’ll see what I can find out. Banta is bad news, Josh. I know you two go back, but you must know you can’t save him. You know that right?”

  Joshua’s frown deepened. “I know.”

  Her gut clenched. “Save him, why would we want to save him? If he’s stealing psi powers, we have to stop him. And if he’s as psychotic as you said we had better do it before he gets too powerful for us to handle.”

  “I’m sure we won’t have to wait long,” Joshua said.

  “Wait for what?” she asked.

  “For Banta to find us. No sense running around trying to locate him. He’s obviously looking for you, so we’ll wait him out here.”

  She was starting to get worried. She’d never been to Key West before, but it was an island with very few means of escape. “You want to stay here? Do we have resources?”

  Will laughed. “You may think this is a party town for vacationers, and it is, but it’s also one of the number-one places Psi Agents come to either retire or get away for a while. The island is the perfect place to make a stand and nobody knows it better than Josh. Well, maybe nobody but me.”

  She relaxed marginally. She still wished she knew the area better. “Okay, I’m going to need a tour of the place, a map, and a weapon or two would be nice.”

  Will grinned even wider than usual. “Follow me.”

  He walked toward the side of the house where she knew his bedroom was and she followed. Joshua walked behind her as if he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. They entered the neat but sparse room. The bed was made in military style and he had only an army trunk for his belongings, no dresser. On one wall there was a small metal bookshelf and Will approached it. He pushed aside some books, revealing a keypad, punched in several numbers and heard a loud click. He took a step back and rolled the shelves to the left, opening a doorway.

  Florescent lights flickered to attention and the three of them walked into what could best be described as a gun vault. She’d never seen a private collection of weapons so extensive. It included racks of machine guns, grenades, several high-powered rifles, well over a dozen handguns and a full array of knives both for hunting and throwing. He even had a small missile launcher.

  “Jesus, Will, what are you expecting, World War III?”

  “It’s just my little insurance policy if the world goes to hell.” He shrugged as if he were talking about a few extra cans of beans.

  “This is a crazy amount of weaponry. Do you have ammunition for all of this?” she asked.

  He pushed a button on the side of a wall rack and several drawers slid open all filled with various kinds of ammo. “Take whatever you need. I have more.”

  “More? You’re kidding.”

  Joshua laughed. “He’s not kidding. Some people collect art or cars, Will’s collection is just as expensive and probably more practical in the long run.”

  “If you’re planning to take over a small country.” She stared wide-eyed at the insane amount of armament kept in a home in Florida.

  “Are you telling me you don’t keep a few weapons at your home?” Joshua asked.

  She went over to the knives and picked up a medium-size blade. Sliding it out of the sheath, she gripped the handle and admired the balance. Sheathing it, she tucked it into the back of her shorts and pulled her shirt down over it. “I have my fair share of weapons, but nothing compared to this. This is an armory that rivals the one at headquarters.”

  “That’s the idea,” Will said. “You should take a gun or two. There are some backpacks and messenger bags in the corner that will work to conceal and store extra magazines.”

  She couldn’t argue with him so she pulled a messenger bag off the rack in the corner and took a Beretta 9mm compact handgun and three fifteen-round magazines. She checked the chamber and finding it empty, slapped a magazine into the weapon.

  Will left, but Joshua stayed, watching her choice and grabbing two G41 .45 automatic handguns. “You like the Beretta better?”

  She pointed the weapon at the wall, feeling the weight and balance. “The Glock is a great weapon, but the grip is pretty wide for a woman. It’s not as comfortable as the Beretta.”

  He looked more closely at the weapon in his hand. “I never thought about it.”

  “No. Why would you?” She put the gun in her bag and walked around investigating all the other options.

  “I read in your file you have some martial arts skills,” he said

  His mind opened up and she could sense his amusement. “I have some skills.”

  “What disciplines have you studied?”

  She took another knife and tucked it inside the outer pocked of the bag. She handed Joshua a rifle. “I guess you’ll have to challenge me and see.”

  “Will has a dojo if you feel like some exercise later.”

  She became more and more curious about their host. “That one is full of surprises. Why not now?”

  The competitive spark between them excited her. She wondered where rolling around on a mat would lead and she opened her mind so he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  Joshua put down the rifle and stalked forward until he forced her back against a long rack of firearms. “You have the most wonderfully dirty mind, beautiful.”

  His hand lightly caressed her arm from the elbow to the shoulder then continued upward, sending sparks of electricity and desire straight down to her pussy. As gentle as his touch was, when he lowered his head to take her lips the kiss was hard, almost violent.

  She let her bag fall to the floor with a soft thud and grabbed his back, pulling him closer. She gasped between kisses. “The door is wide open.”

  Even as she gave the warning she knew she didn’t care and wrapped one leg around his hip to feel his hard cock pressed more firmly against her clit. She groaned as the pressure stirred her desire higher.

  “Will went to the hangar.” He ground forward, increasing her pleasure. A long, low groan escaped his mouth as he took her mouth again. His tongue warmed and invaded. She wanted more of him. Everything about Joshua was an assault. His mind, his body and his desire all crushed her yet she wanted more.

  She tugged on the button of his shorts and slid the zipper down then reached inside and lifted his hard cock into her hand.

  Another, more dangerous-sounding grunt and he lifted her T-shirt, exposing the bathing-suit top she’d found among the things Will had brought her. His calloused fingers made their way under the blue spandex and tugged on her nipple until she cried out.

  Her fingers caressed his shaft, sliding up and down the smooth skin, first with one hand and then the other. With her thumb she rubbed the bead of pre-come over his full head. He pinched her nipple and she cried out. Moisture pooled between her legs with every touch and kiss. She wanted all of him and she didn’t care that they were surrounded by weapons or that Will might return at any moment.

  Joshua dropped to his knees, unsnapped her shorts and pulled them down with the bathing-suit bottoms. The sheathed knife tumbled to the floor as she stepped out of the clothing and stood with her legs apart, looking down at his dark head. His fingers lightly caressed her pussy and it sent a shock to her entire body. With two fingers he spread her lips and then he leaned forward and pressed his tongue into her pussy.

  Tessa screamed, threw her head back and pushed her hips forward. His lips and tongue were magic as he licked and sucked her clit, first hard and then as gentle as a feather. Pleasure spread from her clit outward.

  His arms came up to her hips and he lifted her onto the lowest rack. The metal edges of handguns and semiautomatic weapons dug into the flesh of her ass and thighs. The sharp pain heightened the stunning pleasure of his mouth suckling her clit.

  He lifted both of her legs over his shoulders. Back arched she was crying ou
t and groaning and making noises she’d never heard from herself before. His tongued traced a path around her clit and dipped inside her pussy over and over again. She ground forward and pulled back. The firearms bruised her skin, mixing pain with her pleasure and edging the ecstasy higher.

  Pressure at her opening sent a shocking sensation to every nerve as his thumb pressed inside her wet slit. He fucked her with the digit while sucking hard on her clit. She came apart in an explosion of screams and jerks.

  Joshua’s mouth stilled as did his thumb. Tessa couldn’t move. Her body shook with the coursing pleasure, which rolled out from her clit and back again. Every moment with him was intense, but nothing compared to the way he excited her.

  His thumb slipped away and her feet touched the floor for a moment before his glorious cock pressed at her opening. She heard the crinkling of foil. “Open your eyes, Tessa.”

  She did as he commanded. Her attention was immediately drawn to his hands rolling a condom onto his cock. She thought of smooth satin and how it would feel to suck on him until he came. Looking up into his intense gaze, she could see he knew what she was thinking.

  The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I can hardly wait.”

  In spite of his words he pushed into her pussy inch by inch. Her body stretched and the rapture that had just passed began again deep behind her pelvis.

  “More.” The guttural word might have come from another person. But it was what she wanted. Harder, faster, she needed to have all of him.

  The lights in the armory flickered and then shone steady again.

  She gripped the upper shelf with one hand and his back with her other, lifting her hips and changing the angle. His hands gripped her waist as if he might lose her if he let go.

  He gave her what she asked for, hard, fast thrusts driving her closer to a second release. His hand slid to her back and down her ass between her flesh and the gun that prodded her. The tips of his fingers grazed her sensitive anus. Just the tiny touch and her body shook with orgasm as it crashed down around her. Her nails dug into his shoulder. He thrust faster and she clutched his sweat-slicked skin.

  Her pussy clutched at him and her juices flowed down her thighs with every drive of his cock. He stared into her eyes, cried her name and opened his mind, allowing his orgasm to rocket through them both.

  The lights again fluctuated in brightness. The air was charged with electricity. Her skin tingled with the sensation.

  She was on fire. Feeling Joshua come on the cusp of her own shattering had her coming again. Every nerve tingled and her muscles screamed to near pain.

  They both panted as the sensations rolled away and Joshua slid from inside her. His forehead touched hers. “You are so fucking fantastic.”

  “You didn’t have to open your mind.”

  “Did you like it?” His voice was edged with concern.

  She pulled her head back so he could see her face. “It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I’m just telling you, you didn’t have to open up. I would have been satisfied with my own orgasm.”

  “I wanted to. Sorry about the lights.” His breathing was becoming more regular.

  “That was you?”

  “I lost a bit of control,” he said.

  “Interesting.” She tucked the information away. It was insight into why he felt the need to always be in control and it would need examination.

  He kissed her quickly and pulled his shorts up on his hips before reaching down and retrieving her clothes. “We’ve got to get cleaned up and go.”

  “Where are we going?” She tugged on her bottoms.

  Joshua adjusted some of the guns their activities had moved and bumped. “We have to go and see Wanda at Lonely Joe’s.”

  “Who are Wanda and Joe and why is he sloppy?”

  He laughed harder than she thought the question warranted. “You’ll see. Go get cleaned up. I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

  Chapter Six

  It was the strangest thing, but Joshua couldn’t remember when he’d had as much fun as he’d had since he met Tessa. They were on the run and probably were going to be killed yet he still enjoyed every moment. He wasn’t even including the sex, which was the best of his life. He couldn’t put his finger on the source of his pleasure, but there was something about being near her. The way their energies melded and meshed gave him chills. No one had ever been this close to perfect.

  They’d taken Will’s old blue-and-white Ford pickup and parked it at the edge of town. As she walked beside him he watched her expressions. She looked relaxed yet he could feel her trepidation bubbling under the surface. She was a good agent. He’d read her file. Everything by the book from her first assignment, yet she was creative too.

  Duval Street was a series of bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels. He could practically see her cataloguing everything. Her eyes held a moment on the strip club to the right.

  It took a lot of effort not to prod her mind for the exact emotions she was experiencing. His own apparent addiction to her gave him some pause.

  They crossed Duval to Lonely Joe’s and walked out of the bright sun. He saw Tessa’s “aha” moment when she realized Joe’s was a bar and not a person. He grinned back at her when she gave him an annoyed look.

  His vision took a moment to adjust and focus on the long U-shaped bar. A man pounded on the keys of an old piano and sang from the raised stage at one end of the large room. Several tables were filled with people eating lunch and a few were having drinks in spite of the early hour. He scanned the room until his gaze settled on the redheaded woman sitting on a barstool at the far end.

  Wanda’s age was a big secret, but he guessed her to be around fifty. She was still in great shape and looked years younger. She’d already seen him by the time he spotted her. Her face did not exactly light up, she was far too practiced for that much emotion. But she gave him a small grin, which was practically jumping for joy in Wanda’s world.

  “Long time, Josh.” Wanda’s voice had a slow drawl, rough from too much drink and too many cigarettes.

  “Good to see you’re still keeping that seat warm, Wanda.”

  She shrugged and sipped the golden liquid in her glass. “I’m easy to find. Who’s your friend?”

  He held the barstool out for Tessa. “Tessa, meet Wanda Avery.”

  Tessa held out her hand and Wanda gripped it, pulling her close. “You know they’re looking for you. Word on the wire is you’ve switched sides.”

  Tessa didn’t flinch or pull her hand away. She looked the older woman in the eyes. Joshua could feel her temper simmering. He was sure Wanda, even with her limited psi skills, could feel it too.

  “I’m not in the habit of explaining myself to strangers, Wanda. Why don’t you tell me what you think?” Tessa’s voice was perfectly even though slightly higher than her normal warm tone.

  Wanda released her grip, leaned back and took another sip of her drink. “I think if you’re with Josh that’s enough of a resume for me.”

  Tessa nodded.

  “What do you want?” Wanda asked Joshua.

  “Tell me what’s in the air about us. Have you heard anything about our being here in Key West?”

  A large, rowdy group stumbled inside the bar. Wanda rolled her eyes. “Follow me.”

  She downed the remainder of her drink in one swallow, smoothly slid off the barstool and sauntered toward the back door. They followed her down a corridor, up a flight of steps and into a small office over Lonely Joe’s.

  Wanda sat down behind the oak desk as if she’d done it hundreds of times and pulled a cigarette out of the top drawer. She lit it, blew a long stream of smoke into the air and leaned back in the wheeled desk chair.

  Neither Tessa nor Joshua sat down.

  “I got wind over the wire that she was wanted for treason and had escaped FBI custody.” Wanda tipped her head toward Tessa.

  “And me?”

  She took a long drag and blew out another plume of smo
ke. “Didn’t know you were together until you walked into the bar.”

  Josh shook his head and sat down on a small couch near the door. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Wanda scoffed. “Whoever is after you knows you have as many friends as enemies. They must not want any competition. If it makes you feel any better they seemed to think she was still in the Delaware Valley.”

  “They’ll find us eventually. We can’t just wait on this island for them to figure it out,” Tessa said.

  “Honey, this island is the perfect place to make a stand. The Lakelands have more friends here than anywhere else on Earth.”

  Wanda was right, he had a lot of agents he trusted on Key West. Though he didn’t trust anyone other than Will enough to disclose that Banta was involved. Not yet. That could send some, if not all, of them running. He’d rather not start a psi bloodbath if he could avoid it. The problem was he didn’t have a better idea. His instincts told him to stay on the island and enlist a few friends to help. Keeping Tessa safe was his only priority.

  Finally he looked up at Wanda. “Is Trip in town?”

  A wide smile spread across Wanda’s face. “Now you wouldn’t be planning a little war, would you, Josh?”

  “I’m thinking it’s time I called in a few favors. Are you in, Wanda?”

  Tessa didn’t say anything. She remained in the most defensible corner of the room and watched the exchange.

  “I figure you’ve saved my neck a few times. I imagine Trip will feel the same way. You won’t find him until dark and then you know the place.”

  “Yeah, I know the place.”

  “What do you need from me?”

  “For now I need you to monitor the wire. Find out where they’re looking and keep an ear out for mention of me or my brother. I may need you to send word for him to take his family underground if it looks as if they could be a target. When the time is right I’ll want you to put the word out about Tessa being here and draw them in, if they don’t figure it out sooner.” Joshua paid close attention to Wanda’s reaction. They’d worked together in the past, he trusted her, but the last few days made him cautious.