Page 27 of Edge of Desire

“What about my brother and his wife?”

I smiled. “They’re fine and protected. They’re at a safe house. That was who I texted right away. They have another place in Seattle just in case anything like this would happen.”

“What? How can that be?”

“Avery, can we talk about this later?” I looked up to see Pete in the doorway.

“Hey, can you two get a move on? Your ride is waiting on you.”

Avery turned around and noticed Pete standing there.

“Pete, this is Avery. Avery, meet Pete.”

They both said their hellos. Pete eyed my face and said, “Nice handprint you got there.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna match the bruises that should be popping out in a couple of hours. We had a little issue with a reaction to the motorcycle ride. I had a couple of tails.”

“Ah,” Pete said. Then he turned to Avery and said, “Avery, if you think his driving is bad on a motorcycle, wait till you’re in a getaway car with him.”

“Thanks, bud. I appreciate that,” I said. Then I motioned to him with my head, and he walked over to help Avery stand.

We headed out to the tarmac where a C-17 waited. The back of the plane was open, where cargo was being loaded. Pete gave me all the paperwork for our flights and Avery asked, “Are we flying on that thing?”

“Yeah.” She looked a little skeptical. “Don’t worry. These babies are the safest things ever.”

She punched me in the arm. “I’m not worried about safety, you goofball. Are we gonna have to sit on the floor?”

Pete and I looked at each other and just started laughing. Then Pete said, “No, Avery, I put a couple of folding chairs in there for the two of you.”

“Oh, okay.”

Good lord, I hope she wasn’t that gullible. Pete and I talked about Justin and Caroline. He assured me they’d be fine and that he’d already put security detail on them. Their main house was empty, or so everyone thought. It was swarming with agents in the hopes of catching whoever was out to get us.

I grabbed Avery by the hand and pulled her behind me as we boarded the plane via the ramp. She chuckled when she saw the seats along the sides of the aircraft.

“Not your ordinary plane, huh?”

“Oh, we’re not sitting here. Come on.” I pulled her through the cargo area to the front where a few regular seats were located and chatted for a few minutes with the crew. We sat down and buckled up. It was great to be on a military aircraft because their flights always took off on time. About two and a half hours later, we landed in Colorado Springs.

I had to wake Avery up. She was sound asleep and snoring, or more like purring. I wondered about this cat thing she had. I gotta say, it was a major turn-on for me. Reaching out, I went to tap her on the shoulder, but somehow, my hand ended up on her soft and silky hair instead. I had never felt anything like it in my life. Maybe that’s why she sounded like a kitty. I picked up a thick piece of it and rubbed it between my fingers before letting it glide on through. Her profile was exquisite. It took all my control not to run my finger down the slope of her nose or along her lower lip. Watching the simple motion of her chest with each breath she took made me regret that I had to disturb her gentle sleep.

“Avery, we’re almost here.” I tapped her shoulder. She arched her back and stretched, again resembling a contented feline.

Her eyes targeted mine and I flinched. The intensity in her gaze was unsettling. My guilt escalated over what I’d done to her life knowing I’d pretty much ruined it.

“What now?”

“We need to change planes. Are you hungry or thirsty?”

“Miles or whatever the hell your name is, look at me. I’m always hungry. And I’m thirsty too.”

“Preston. My name is Preston.”

“Yeah, right. Preston. I don’t suppose you have a last name?”

“Yep. It’s Mitchell.”

She looked at me really funny and then asked, “I don’t suppose you once had a sister named Terri?”

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