Page 49 of Shadow Target

Willow could hardly sit still when Luke and Dev arrived at seven p.m. the next evening. He had his tablet with him. She seemed happier. Could that mean good news? They all sat down at the kitchen table.

Luke said, “You two are staying here.”

Giving a whoop, Willow grinned and clapped her hands. Dev grinned too, relieved.

“That’s great!” Willow said. “What else?”

“Like we talked about earlier,” Luke said. “You’ll have an Artemis security person permanently assigned to you while you fly. Due to the fact you’re living with Shep, Wyatt thinks you don’t need an extra security person around at home.”

“Good,” Willow said, giving Shep a warm look. She reached out, squeezing his hand. He winked at her. Releasing his hand, she asked, “What about Dev’s situation?”

Luke moved uncomfortably in his chair, giving her a quick glance. “There’s a consensus of agreement at Artemis concerning that for now: I’m to remain her security, to keep using that second bedroom for a while longer.”

Willow saw Dev wrinkle her nose, and avoid Luke’s apologetic look, her hands clasped tightly on the table. If she hadn’t been trying to mend her relationship with Shep, Dev could have easily come to live in this condo with her, thereby avoiding having to have a strange male underfoot. But that wasn’t going to happen. “Dev? How are you feeling about this?”

“Not happy,” she grumped.

“Yeah, I understand,” Willow said gently. Luke looked as miserable as she did. She felt sorry for them. “But this is temporary, Dev. It’s better to have a bodyguard right now. We don’t know what else David and his soldiers might try and pull.”

“Well,” Luke said, rolling his shoulders to rid them of tension, “we’ve got a growing profile on him and his movements now, thanks to the intelligence community coming through for us.” He scrolled on his tablet for a moment. “He’s known to have roughly five hundred soldiers. All child soldiers he collected in Darfur ten years ago. They are loyal to him. And they’re killers. He’s an opportunist, a rogue agent. Someone who is hard to pin down strategically.”

“A loose cannon,” Dev suggested.

Luke glowed with an over-exaggerated look of praise cast in her direction. “Exactly.”

“So?” Willow said, opening her hands, “where does that put Dev and I?”

“On guard,” Luke said. “The extra contingent of Artemis operators will be landing later today at the Bahir Dar airport. I’ve got my second-in-command taking care of the logistics on them. My job is to be with Dev at her condo. When she’s flying with you, Willow? There will be another Artemis operator who will be always with you on the ground and in the air. When you’re done with a day’s worth of flying? Shep will be with you at your condo, and I’ll be at Dev’s. There are going to be times when Shep has to leave and go to the villages. When that happens? I’ll assign a security guard to you. I have a female security guard who will replace him when necessary. Wyatt feels that, because David is a rogue threat, he could pop up into our lives at any time without warning, so this is the way it’s going down.”

“Willow?” Dev said, “I talked to Wyatt after he’d finished briefing Luke on our situation. He gave me the opportunity to be transferred out when I bitched about Luke living in my condo. I told him no, because you and I are a damn good team, and I don’t want to break up what we’ve established here in Ethiopia.”

“Good,” Willow said, “because I’d hate to lose you as my copilot.” She knew the extraordinary courage it took for Dev to stay, what with Luke now constantly in her life for the time being. It had to rub her raw in so many ways. “But you know? If it was better for you? I’d say get transferred. I know you prefer to live alone.” She saw Luke frown, questions in his gray eyes over her statement. Willow had no idea how much or how little Dev was speaking to him. She was a totally private person and never spoke about what she’d gone through to anyone. Especially a man. It had taken them almost a year of flying together for Dev to finally entrust her with the horror of her childhood. There was no way she’d open up to Luke to explain why she didn’t want him underfoot. He was a nice guy from what she could discern, and she could see him struggling to not be another load on Dev’s shoulders. But he was, even though it wasn’t his fault. Willow felt badly for Luke. She could feel him casting around to not upset Dev.

***

Shep drew Willow against him after they made love that night. Both were damp, breathing raggedly, fulfilled and happy. He gathered her into his arms, keeping her against his body, feeling her warmth, her breath upon his chest, her arm snugly wrapped around his waist. The happiness in his chest was so intense that he wondered if he could die from it. There was a new openness between them since their in-depth talk the night before. His feelings of love for her had increased to new levels. He slid his fingers down her spine, hearing her hum of appreciation for his caress.

It was nearly midnight, but he didn’t care. They’d continued their same routines from before the threat of Tefere David had reared its ugly head. Plans were in place. The new contractors had arrived, and apartments were found for them. He knew Luke had his job cut out for him, but he was an ex-Navy SEAL and knew how to put an op together. Shep had total confidence in the man. He felt badly about Dev being forced to have Luke live with her. That had to be stressful as hell on her.

“I can hear you thinking,” Willow said, kissing his jaw, easing away, and propping herself up on one elbow.

He grinned. “You were always good at knowing when I switched gears.”

Her lips twisted. “Yes, you went from the little head down… here,” and she reached out, sliding her fingers around his erection that was half what it had just been, “to the big head on your shoulders.”

Chuckling, he closed his eyes, appreciating her soft fingers gently massaging him, the sensation more than pleasant. “Okay, that’s all true, but I like what you’re doing right now. My big head has stopped thinking.” He heard her laughter, met her shadowed eyes, saw new embers of desire igniting in their depths. Reaching out, he moved a few strands of wild hair away from her brow. “I want to do something, but I’m not sure you’ll approve,” he told her, holding her curious gaze.

“Tell me?”

“I’d like to take you to a jewelry store here in town when you feel like it, Willow. I’d like to buy you a friendship ring, something you can wear, if you want, that symbolizes us. I hesitated to talk to you about this because it’s probably way too soon in our journey together,” and he searched her expression. Willows lips were luscious, and he wanted to curve his mouth over them right now, but he controlled the need. Her gaze grew thoughtful, and she looked away for a moment. Shep could tell she was weighing his words carefully.

“What pushed you to want to do this so soon, Shep?”

“Probably damn near getting killed the other afternoon.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” She sat up, crossing her legs, her forearms resting on her knees. Pushing much of her unruly red hair across her shoulders, she said, “You know when I left you? I put the engagement and wedding ring on the table in front of you.”

“You did.”

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