Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(29)

“What about you?” West wanted to know. “This shit has been your baby from the word go. Don’t you want to be there for the takedown?”

His gaze was on the closed bathroom door.

You’re the threat to her.

He didn’t like the way Wyman was so focused on Willow. “I’m staying with her. Wyman is too intent on Willow. If I go, she’ll want to be there, too.”

A pause. “Don’t you think she deserves to be there?”

Not if things went south. “Not if this is a set up. Maybe he wants me to bring her to him. He would have known I could trace the call.” Jay shook his head. “Willow stays back on this one. I stay with her.”

“Hate to say it, but, yeah, I actually agree with you on this.”

Jay’s lips twisted. “Watch your ass, man.”

“Always.”

Jay sent out a flurry of texts, making sure his brother had plenty of back-up ready. He wasn’t about to risk West’s safety. West was his only family. Not blood, but something that went one hell of a lot deeper.

Then he put his phone down. He stalked toward the bathroom. A quick twist of the door knob, and he was inside. Steam drifted lazily in the room. The bathroom was massive, just like every other room in the house. The shower could easily hold six or more people—not that he’d ever had that many folks in his shower.

He was more the one-on-one type.

Willow stood beneath the spray of water. Her head was bowed and her hands pressed to the marble walls. The water slid down her body as—

Wait. Was she crying? “Willow?” Jay stepped forward. He could have sworn that he’d seen her shoulders quiver.

At his call, she stiffened. But she didn’t immediately turn toward him. The water kept crashing down on her.

Had she heard his phone call? Sure, with her enhanced senses, she probably had, and he’d need to explain but—

Willow turned toward him. Water glistened on her beautiful face. He couldn’t tell if she’d been crying or if all of the water just came from the shower. He stared at her a moment, trying to decide if he should force a smile, if he should act like everything was perfectly fine.

Or maybe he should tell her about Wyman. About the team closing in. It was her life and—

Willow lifted her hand toward him.

And he just reacted. He stalked toward her. Caught her hand in his and stepped into the shower with her. Steam drifted around him as the warm water pounded onto him. Willow’s wet body pressed against his.

“I wanted you with me,” she whispered.

He kissed her. Slowly. Deeply. Savored her. And when his mouth left hers… “Then that’s where I’ll always be.”

Their gazes locked. He wished he could read the emotions in her stare. Wished that he could understand so many of Willow’s mysteries.

But he considered himself to be a lucky bastard just to have her in his arms.

There was a bench in his shower. He put her on that bench. Spread her legs. Opened her wide to him, and then he crouched between her splayed legs. Willow needed pleasure. With him, he always wanted her to know pleasure. He put his mouth on her. He kissed her. He stroked her. He worked her with his tongue until she was arching up against him and crying out her release.

And then, well, then he was just getting started.

***

“I don’t like this,” Sawyer Cage said later as he gazed down at the small cabin that lay nestled in the middle of the woods. The helicopter’s blades made a whoop-whoop-whoop sound overhead as the bird hovered in the sky. Beside him, West Harper leaned forward, staring down at their target.

“Are you picking up anything?” West barked into his headset. He was the one steering the chopper. “Anything at all?”

Sawyer spared a quick glance over at their final team member. Flynn Haddox had his eyes on the cabin, and his body had tensed.

“We’re still pretty far away,” Sawyer muttered. But…

Flynn, are you picking up a damn thing? Sawyer asked, using the mental link that the Lazarus subjects had developed.

Flynn shook his head and his gaze didn’t leave the cabin. Not a thing. Could be that the chopper is too loud. But if Wyman was inside, I think we’d be seeing his guards. My bet is they probably all cleared out right after he made the call.

There was a landing pad out there. The cabin was small, appeared low-tech, normal, but then there was the very distinct landing pad nestled about thirty yards away. Since the place was in the middle of nowhere, Wyman would have needed a mode of transportation to get himself in and out of that cabin, fast.

While we were hauling ass to get here, Wyman could have been flying away, Flynn added. His hard features showed his worry. The guy’s brown hair was cut almost brutally short, and a line of dark shadow covered his clenched jaw.

“We should land,” West barked, his words carrying into the headsets they all wore. “Check out the cabin. Even if Wyman is long gone, he might have left some clues behind. No way am I going back to Jay without something to report.”

Wyman doesn’t leave evidence behind. Flynn’s terse reply shot through Sawyer’s head.

He knew his buddy was right. Wyman wasn’t a mistake making kind of man.

He knew Jay would track the call. Sawyer sent his thoughts out as he considered the situation. He could feel the bird starting to descend. With Jay’s tech, no way could Wyman expect that call not to be traced. I mean, shit, maybe Wyman had the signal bouncing around, but eventually, he knew Jay would find him. It was just a matter of how long the trace would take. A matter of when, not if.