Azurdee. Please God. Please don’t take her from me too.
I needed to get to Azurdee. I needed to get home. I was just about to reach for the radio to call an abort on the mission when Jason gave the signal sound. I quickly got into position and tried to calm my shaking hands. I turned on my iPod and took a deep breath and cleared my mind of everything. I looked and saw Jose walking out. They were laughing and high-fiving each other.
The fire. It wasn’t an accident.
I focused my scope in and put my target right on that fucker’s head.
“This is for you, Azurdee,” I whispered as I pulled the trigger.
The moment he slumped to the ground, I yelled out the signal and gunshots rang out all around me. I checked through my scope to make sure Jose was down. I aimed one more time and shot again for good measure.
Jason held up his fist and called out “All down!” We jumped up and grabbed our stuff and began humping out. We got a few miles out and Jason called in our location and estimated time to the extraction location. I walked up to him and grabbed the radio from him.
“Skip. Is Azurdee okay? There was a fire.”
“How in the fuck did you know?”
“I forgot to turn off my phone. I got a text.”
“What?” he yelled out.
“Skip!”
“Our guy saw her walk in, only he never saw her come out. He said he heard a car door shut and looked up to see a car pulling away. He grabbed the plates and they are being run now. He decided to follow the car. He got about a mile away when he heard a loud explosion. He looked in his mirror and saw flames shooting in the sky in the direction of the restaurant. He turned around and went back to find the restaurant up in flames.”
“Did he see who got in or out of the car?”
Silence.
“Fucking hell, Skip, don’t do this to me.”
He let out a sigh. “He said he fell asleep, so the car door was someone getting in and then they drove off. We’re thinking they planted the bomb and then gave themselves plenty of time to get away before it exploded.”
“Did she get out?”
“Lark, let’s just get y’all off the goddamn mountain.”
“Did. She. Get. Out?”
He let out a sigh and said, “They just got the fire under control. Her car is still there though.”
I stopped and tried to keep my legs from giving out on me. “No,” I whispered.
“Lark, we don’t know anything yet. Let’s just get you off that mountain. Get your ass to the extraction location and by the time you get back we’ll have more information.”
“Oh my God. She can’t leave me. She can’t leave me,” I cried out.
“I can’t believe we get to hang out. It’s about time,” Ryn said with a wink.
“I know.” I chuckled to myself when I thought about Ralph. He had no idea I had planned on closing down the restaurant today. He never paid attention to what our website said, or the door for that matter. It wasn’t a planned closing but the regulars were aware we changed the schedule up sometimes.
We heard a loud bang and Ryn jumped. “Shit. What in the hell was that?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Not sure, but damn it was loud. Hey, we have to go to the Wimberley glass blowers. It’s a bit outside of town, but I think they have the pendants you’re looking for.”
Ryn looked at me and raised her eyebrow. “Really? Don’t get my hopes up, Azurdee. You know how I’ve been searching for the perfect pendant lamp.”
I laughed as we continued to drive through Wimberley. When we pulled up to the Wimberley Glass House, I let out a little squeal. I knew Ryn was going to flip when she saw this place. It was just the type of place she had been looking for.
When we walked in, I watched her face. I smiled knowing I had hit a home run.
“Oh, Azurdee. This place is amazing.”
I nodded and said, “I know, isn’t it?”
We walked around a bit and we were even lucky enough to see a demonstration of glass blowing. Ryn finally picked out the pendants she wanted.
We were walking out when her cell phone rang. “Ugh. It’s Tristan. What the fuck does he want? He hasn’t called in a few months.”
She hit ignore and sent it to voicemail. As we walked outside her phone rang again. She hit ignore again and rolled her eyes. We got in the car and before she put it in park a text message came through. She sighed as she opened it up.
She looked at me and said in a scared voice, “He said it’s an emergency.”
My heart began pounding in my chest so loud I could hear it in my ears.
“Lark,” I whispered.
Ryn hit Tristan’s number.
“What’s wrong?” Ryn asked.
She looked at me and gave me a weak smile. “Why do you want to know where I am? Listen, I don’t have time to…”
“Yes, I’m in Wimberley. How did you know that?”
Her mouth dropped open and she began shaking her head. “Wait. Tristan. Slow down. Azurdee is with me. Yes! She is sitting right here next to me. What do you mean there was an explosion?”
I started wringing my hands together. I was wishing she would just put it on speakerphone.
Her face turned white as a ghost as she handed me the phone.
“Hello? Tristan! Is Lark okay? What’s going on?”
“Azurdee! Oh my God.” I heard him muffle the phone and then yell, “She’s okay! I’m talking to her. She isn’t in the restaurant. She’s with Ryn. She’s okay.”
“Tristan. What in the hell is going on?”
“Azurdee, I don’t know how to tell you this but…your restaurant. There was some kind of explosion and it…there was a fire. Honey, I’m so sorry but it is a total loss,” Tristan said in a worried voice.
I swallowed hard and looked at Ryn who had tears streaming down her face. “Oh my God. If we hadn’t left, we would have been...”
“What? What did you say, Azurdee?” Tristan asked.
I shook my head. “We’re on our way.” I hung up and Ryn and I just stared at each other.
“The explosion we heard, Ryn. That was the restaurant. That must have been like three minutes after we left. We could…we might have been…” I put my hand over my mouth and jumped out of her car. I felt like I was going to throw up. I closed my eyes and thought about the strange man who came to the house last night.
Once my stomach settled I turned and numbly got back into the car.
We pulled up and I let out a small cry. My entire restaurant was gone. Ryn parked the car and we both got out. Tristan and Ralph both came running over. Ralph grabbed me and began saying. “You bitch. You tricked me into thinking I had the day off!” I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. Only he could make a joke at a time like this. Ralph pulled back and said, “Dee, we thought you were in there. Your car was still here. Then when this guy said he saw a car driving off and gave the plates to the police and it pulled up as Ryn’s car, we had a bit of hope.”
I looked over at Ryn and Tristan was hugging her. She gave me a confused look as he kept repeating: “Thank God you’re both okay.” She finally pushed him away and said, “What are you doing here?”
“Lark. He sent me a text to come check everything out.”
My heart skipped a beat when he mentioned Lark. “Is he okay?” I asked.
He nodded his head and said, “He said he was on his way back. He’s really upset. He’s been trying to call you.”
I put both my hands over my face and tried to calm myself down. I dropped my hands and looked at what was once was my dream.
“I left my cell phone in my office. Ryn called and said she was here and I just quickly got up and left. If I hadn’t left though...”
Tristan walked up to me and pulled me into a hug and I lost it. I hadn’t cried this hard since the night Lark and I broke up.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Shh. I promise it’s okay.”
Ralph put his hand on my back and said, “We?
??ll start over, Dee. It can be even better, honey.”
I knew they were trying to make me feel better but it wasn’t working. The only thing that would make me feel better was if it were Lark holding me in his arms.
I hung up the phone and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. I had to practically beg Jessie to just stay in Mason. There was nothing she could do. It was looking more and more like arson, and I kept thinking of the creepy guy who had stopped by my house the night before. I told the police about him and they said they would look into it.
Meanwhile there was a CIA agent who was parked outside my house. He claimed at first the local police called him in but I knew it had to have had something to do with Lark. When he pulled me to the side and mentioned Skip and Lark and that he was the one who reported the tags, it all made sense.
My eyes were so tired and I just needed to sleep. I wasn’t even sure what time it was. All I knew was it was late at night and I was exhausted. I was drained emotionally. My entire world was now gone.
No Lark. No restaurant. Nothing.
I crawled into bed and got settled in for what I hoped was at least a few hours of sleep. Within minutes I was fast asleep.
I woke up and sat up quickly. My breathing was erratic and I had to concentrate on getting it under control. Ever since that first panic attack when I saw Sherry, I’d been having them more and more.
“Fuck. Just one night. I just ask for one good night of sleep.” I lay down and grabbed the other pillow and felt something. I jumped up thinking it was a giant bug. I stood on the bed and looked down.
It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus. Was that a…rose? I reached down and picked it up. I smelled it and immediately began crying as I jumped off the bed and ran out of my room. When I ran into the living room I practically ran into the coffee table. I let out a gasp and cried harder when I saw him sleeping on the sofa. He was still dressed in his uniform.
I moved around the coffee table and sat down on it and watched him sleep. His phone was sitting on the coffee table and it went off. I looked down and saw it was a message from Skip. I picked it up and slid it to open the message:
Skip: Your last mission was a success. All subjects have been taken out. The offer for the job is still open, you know.
I looked at Lark and whispered, “Last mission?”
I set his phone down and got down on my knees. He looked so beautiful but so very tired. Even in a deep sleep I could tell he was exhausted.
I bent down and lightly brushed my lips against his. He moved slightly and I whispered, “I love you, Michael.”
He lifted his hand and put it behind my neck and pulled my lips to his. We both let out a moan as we opened our mouths and kissed. What started out as a small kiss quickly turned passionate as Lark began to sit up…never breaking our kiss once. I crawled onto his lap and began running my hands through his hair.
God I missed this. I missed him. His touch. His smell. His taste. Everything about him made me lose all control.
When we finally broke the kiss, we were both panting. Lark placed his hands on each side of my face and looked into my eyes.
“I love you. I love you so damn much. I had to do what I did to keep you safe and if all that pain and hurt had been for nothing and you died in that explosion I would never have forgiven myself. I never wanted to hurt you. Ever. I promise you I will never hurt you again. Please believe me. You’re my whole life. You’re the reason I live each day.”
I sucked in a breath of air and then slammed my lips to his. We both frantically began taking our clothes off. I’d never moved so fast in my life to get undressed. I stood up so he could take his pants off. I let out a sigh when I saw him.
He sat back down and I crawled back on him. He grabbed my hips and began moving me just enough to where he was barely going inside of me. He moved me back and slipped his fingers inside me as I whimpered.
“Lark, please.”
He ran his lips along my jaw and down my neck and back to my ear where he whispered, “You’re so wet, mi amor. I’ve missed you.”
I couldn’t believe how much I needed him. “Yes. I’ve missed you. I need you so much.”
He placed his hands on my hips and guided me to my sweet relief. I dropped my head back as he filled my body. I knew it wasn’t going to be long. I was already feeling the build up. I began moving up and down faster as he moved along with me. I snapped my head forward and our eyes met.
“I’m going to come,” I panted.
He wrapped his arms around me as we both gently whispered each other’s names.
As I lay in my bed wrapped in Lark’s arms, I couldn’t help but think of how close I came to dying today. I could hear Lark breathing slow and steady. After we had made love we came in here and he told me everything. My heart ended up hurting even more knowing how painful it was for him to push me away to protect me.
I asked him about the text I read from Skip and he confirmed to me he wasn’t going to be in the Marines much longer, and how the CIA wanted him, but he turned down the job offer. When he asked me if I hated him for what his job was, I ended up crawling back on top of him and we made love again. I knew he was exhausted. The moment he came he about fell asleep.
I ran my fingers lightly up and down his arm and smiled. This feels perfect. All we needed was each other. Nothing else. Just us.
Lark had mentioned rebuilding the restaurant, but knowing that he was getting out of the Marines and soon wouldn’t be taking off all the time, I knew exactly what I was going to do.
We were finally together again. There was no way I was ever going to let him go.
I sat on the hay bale and watched the horse Scott was brushing. It had been two months since Azurdee’s restaurant burned down. I was now officially discharged and was working on building our house on the ranch I had bought right between Johnson City and Marble Falls. The CIA had been out to the ranch I don’t know how many times trying to recruit me, and each time I would ask them to please stop coming out.
Scott stopped brushing the horse and turned to look at me. “Are you even listening to me?”
I smiled and nodded my head. “Sorry. I was thinking.”
He smiled and said, “Is it weird not being in the service anymore? No more always on call and being all secret and shit?”
I laughed and said, “Yeah, it’s a little weird.”
He nodded and said, “Pretty soon when you get your place up and running, you will be wishing for downtime.”
I agreed and said, “I still don’t know if I want cattle or hunting.”
“Do both,” Scott said as he began brushing the horse again.
I sat back and thought about it. “Both. I wonder if I could make that work?”
“Sure you can. It will be hard work, especially if you bring in the game and really get some good bucks on there. You could do guided like your parents. Maybe Azurdee would even do like your mom and cook for them. You could charge more if you do the same set up as your parents.”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, but I’m not sure if she is going to rebuild in Wimberley or not.”
Scott looked at me funny and then looked back at the horse and smiled slightly.
I got up and ran my hand through my hair and whispered, “Shit.”
“Lark, something is bugging you. Dude, just spit it the hell out. I can’t take your suffering anymore. It’s rubbing off on me.”
I stopped pacing and reached into my pocket and walked up to Scott. I handed him the ring box.
He smiled when he took it and opened it.
“Holy shit, dude. That is one nice diamond. You do this by yourself?” Scott asked with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes and snatched the box out of his hand. “It was my grandmother’s ring.”
Scott shook his head and asked, “When are you asking her?”
“This weekend.”
Scott stopped and looked at me. “What? Here? Do you have a plan?”
I just looked at him. “Yes, I
have a plan. Azurdee doesn’t need anything grand and fancy. I’ve got this. Don’t worry pretty boy. It’s covered. Don’t forget, I’m still not pussy-whipped like the rest of you.”
Scott nodded his head and looked at me with a cocky grin. “Dude, you keep filling your head with that shit. You are now a member of the pussy-whipped boys club. Just embrace it. The perks are fantastic.”
I laughed and slapped him on the back. “I’m going to find Azurdee. “
He called out from behind me, “You’re going to be watching Twilight soon! Or sitting there listening to a book.”
I put up my hand and waved it. As I rounded the corner of the barn I laughed. No way in hell I was going to admit I had watched Twilight with Azurdee a few weeks ago. I made her swear to secrecy not to tell a soul. I may or may not have threatened her as well.
I walked into the kitchen and smiled when I saw my girl standing at the stove trying to reach up to the microwave. I leaned back and watched her as those first moments of being with her in this very kitchen flooded my mind.
“Fucker. I hate you! Stupid microwave.”
I smiled and said a silent prayer thanking God she was mine. I cleared my throat and walked up to her. “Would you like some help with that?”
“No. I don’t know why they made this damn thing so high.”
I leaned against her as I reached up and took out the bowl. I set it on the counter and then turned her to face me.
“No, you’re just short.”
She smiled and began chewing on her lower lip.
“Seems like yesterday, not a year and a half ago.”
I nodded my head and said, “It was a moment ago.”
I leaned down and sucked her bottom lip between my lips and gently bit down. She reached her hands up and laced them around my neck as we deepened our kiss.
“Get a room,” Jessie said as she walked into the kitchen.
I pulled back and wiggled my eyebrows up and down as Azurdee laughed and shook her head.
“Don’t make plans for this evening. I made us dinner plans,” I said as I smacked her ass and walked out of the kitchen, then headed up to the room we were staying in. When I walked down the hall, I peeked into Lauren’s room. I walked in and stood over her crib.