Page 58 of The Soul of Archer
“Yeah baby?”
“Take me to bed. I want you to fuck me. Right. Now.” She demanded, nipping his ear with her teeth.
Lance was out of his chair, cradling her, and striding for the stairs in less than a heartbeat.
***
Lance lay on his back, his heart still thundering against his ribs when Alora flopped down beside him. “Holy fuck,”
“God, that was… what the hell did we just do?” Alora giggled, pushing her hair from her face.
“I think that was sex, but whatever it was, it was hot as hell. I think you almost broke my dick in half just now.”
Alora burst into pelts of laughter, Lance soon joining her. When he brought her to the bedroom they had stripped each other, and a small tussle began over who was in charge. Lance won the first round, pinning her under him on the flower covered bed, but round two and three had gone to her when she managed to flip their positions. Round four was once more Lance’s but that final round… hell she’d have to say it was a tie there.
“I love you Alora.”
“And I love you Lance.”
He leaned over and kissed her softly before slipping from the bed. He returned with a washcloth and gently cleaned her then himself. After tossing the cloth in the hamper, he moved to the bed. “Um, should we change the sheets?”
Alora lifted a brow then noticed where he was looking. Looking down she giggled. A yellow rose petal was stuck to her right boob. In fact, both her and Lance were covered in the white and yellow petals. “I guess we should. Then maybe a shower.”
Both laughing, they stripped the bed. Alora changed the sheets while Lance grabbed his shower first. While she took her turn, Lance headed downstairs for a cup of coffee. Suddenly an idea hit him. He grabbed his cell and quickly called his mom.
***
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Yes sir. The one they call Hawk is definitely staying with the St. James woman. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were in love.”
“You’ve done very well. If you hadn’t warned us about the raid beforehand we wouldn’t have escaped.”Ian paused a moment.“I want you to watch them both a few more days. On Friday we will make our move. Say nothing to Sam. He’s botched things up enough. You’ve proven your loyalty to this family over the years and we don’t forget those who are loyal.”
“Thank you and I will always remain loyal to you.”
The line went dead. The caller smiled and tucked the phone back into their pocket. Casting one last glance at Alora’s home, they turned and strolled casually down the darkened street, the unmarked unit out front never even noticing as they faded into the dark. Soon, very soon Alora St. James would learn what happens when you foul up business for the Malconi family.
***
Lance stood at the window of his office starting out over his adopted city. Last night before he and Alora had gone to bed, he had taken a quick walk around the outside of the house when he spotted something. A pair of boot prints on the side of the house where Alora’s bedroom was. He almost brushed it off till he remembered something Alora had told him. She had a sprinkler system that was on a timer. It went off once at six in the morning then again at six in the evening. The boot prints had been fresh. Lance had gone to the unmarked out front where one of Danny’s men and Helix from Charlie team were. Lance told them about the prints and Helix got out to photograph them. Both men swore they had seen no one on the street or sidewalk since a little after seven. Lance was pulled from his thoughts at the knock.
“Yeah?”
Grant walked in, “Hey Hawk, I just bumped into Helix and he gave me these.”
Lance rounded his desk and took the folder that Grant held out to him. He opened it as Grant came to his side. The boot print had been a men’s size ten. Helix was able to run the print through a database and it showed the boot was a Merrell Phaserbound Mid Waterproof work boot. Nothing special about it and like Lance had suspected, the boot print had been fresh. About half an hour to an hour after the sprinkler system shut off. At that time Lance and Alora would have been in the bedroom and whoever had been there could have seen right through the window.
“What’s up Hawk?” Grant asked.
“Last night I was walking the perimeter and I found these boot prints. Alora has a sprinkler system and these were made after it shut off. If Helix is right about the time line, me and Alora were in her bedroom. Whoever made these would have had a clear shot into the window.” Lance said, trying to stay calm.
“You think it’s the same person who took those photos and sent them here when you two came back on Monday?”
Lance faced Grant, “Yeah.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
And that was the crux of the problem. Should he tell Alora? Keep a lid on it? Hell, he had no clue what to do. “I don’t know. Hell Grant, if I tell her, it could freak her out and stress her out more than she already is. Yet if I don’t and she finds out she’s liable to kick my ass from here to Saturn and back.”
