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As it turned out, there was an Internet café on the Göreme-Uçhisar Road, not far from their hotel. Jerusha set up her laptop next to the desktop computer at her station and groused to herself. That’s what she got for assuming. If Drew didn’t have sharp eyes, they would’ve driven right past it, and her none the wiser.
Drew’s hand cupped her shoulder and squeezed. “Need to make a call.”
She mustered a smile for him. It wasn’t his fault she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and she shouldn’t have gotten pissed off at him earlier for making her feel beautiful then shutting her out. They were in the middle of a mission. She should’ve given him the benefit of the doubt, would’ve if her head was screwed on straight. “I’ll be right here.”
He slipped away, his booted footsteps quiet on the carpeted floor, his huge body moving efficiently. No wasted actions, no unnecessary movements, just a smooth, even gait and a no-nonsense attitude. She sighed and opened a browser window. Men weren’t supposed to be beautiful to watch, were they? And they weren’t supposed to distract Daughters from their work, even if they were part of that work. Look at what had happened to Dani and Moira. Both of them had let the men they were working with distract them, and the next thing they knew, they lost their immortality and had babies on the brain.
Or, in Moira’s case, a baby in the womb.
Jerusha’s gaze crept unbidden to Drew, clearly visible through the store’s plate glass window. He was just standing there on the sidewalk, back to her, arms crossed over his chest, fingers tucked against his ribs. Wasn’t he supposed to be making a phone call?
She shook the thought away and searched for articles on underground cities in Turkey. The search engine returned dozens of hits. Several news articles published in the past few days were near the top of the list. Jerusha clicked through and scanned them, copied the best ones into a research folder on her laptop, and noted the names of those involved in efforts to explore and preserve the as-yet unnamed city.
Twenty minutes into her research, Jerusha glanced up. Drew had disappeared from the sidewalk. She scowled at the screen of her laptop. He was a big boy, a well-trained soldier, and fully capable of taking care of himself. Him moving out of sight was nothing to worry about.
She dashed off an e-mail to her mother and another to Bobby and Hiro, updating them on her and Drew’s progress. A third went to Pari, an immortal Daughter Jerusha had worked with several decades ago, asking for a meet.
Jerusha’s eyes stole toward the window. No Drew. She pursed her lips and studied the people passing by on the sidewalk outside the Internet café, then huffed out a sigh and tracked down contact info for the people associated with the new underground city. She copied and pasted everything into her research file, typed out a swift e-mail requesting an interview with the man in charge of the work there. Not much hope of him answering back quickly. It was coming up on the weekend. Chances were good he wouldn’t be available until the following week.
She checked the window. Drew was watching her through it, phone to ear, the fingers of his free hand stuffed into the front pocket of his jeans. Relief eddied through her. There he was, exactly where he was supposed to be.
She turned back to her work, finished her research in record time, and logged out of her laptop. The door buzzed as it opened, and a moment later, Drew’s fingers skimmed down her braid. “Hey, baby. Any luck?”
“Tons.” She stuffed her laptop into its case, stood, and settled the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “It looks promising. They’ve found a ton of artifacts, very nicely preserved, and at least half a dozen tombs are located deep inside the city.”
His mouth quirked into a full-blown grin. “You brains, me brawn.”
“Yeah, yeah. I need to call Moira real quick, wish her a happy wedding day.”
“Thought that was tomorrow.”
“It is. She’ll be busy tomorrow, though.”
Drew placed his broad hand on her lower back and guided her out of the café into the late afternoon chill. “It’s Friday.”
“Mm-hmm. And?”
“Date night.”
She ducked her head, hiding her smile. “We could always play another round of Go Fish.”
“If I had a chance in hell of winning, I’d take you up on that. I can’t believe you beat me last night three games in a row.” He shook his head and eased them through the growing throng of people ambling along the sidewalk. “How about dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and an hour of me rubbing you down?”
Her mind leapt to the possibilities, her naked, Drew’s hands all over her. Molten heat gathered between her thighs, and she shivered. “You’re talking about s-e-x.”
“No, I’m talking about helping you relax so you’ll get some sleep and stop snapping at me.” He unlocked the car and opened her door. “Bobby said you get grumpy when you don’t get enough rest.”
She slouched into her seat, arms crossed around her bag, and watched him shut her door, round the hood of the car, and slide in behind the steering wheel. “You talked to my brother about me?”
“I might’ve mentioned your hair-trigger temper a time or two,” he said mildly. “He said if I wanna keep you happy, you need regular meals and a stable bedtime.”
A blush flooded her cheeks and she slapped a hand over her eyes. Bobby had made it sound like she was a little kid. When she got back to the States, she was going to kick his ass good, favorite sibling or not.
“Hey, lighten up, Jaybird. He was worried about you, and so am I. We get back to the hotel, you’re eating a solid meal and getting a decent night’s sleep.”
“Maybe I can’t sleep because of you.”
The words snapped out of her, much harsher than she’d intended. She uncovered her eyes and dared a peek at Drew. His hands were on his thighs, fingers splayed, and he was staring straight out the windshield, expression neutral.
Her fingers curled into fists against her laptop bag. “I’m sorry, Drew. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know, Jaybird.” His gruff voice was so soft, she barely heard it above the traffic whizzing by on the nearby road. “Maybe you could take a nice, hot bath after supper. Women like that kinda thing, right?”
“Yeah, Drew. Sure.” She buckled her seatbelt and focused her eyes on the dash. “Maybe we could find that co-ed gym first. I’m feeling kinda rusty.”
“I thought Daughters didn’t get rusty.”
“I haven’t worked out since we landed in Istanbul.”
“There’s space in the room, you wanna spar a little.”
She took a chance and covered his hand with hers. “I promise not to kick your ass this time.”
He snorted out a laugh. “You dream big.”
“That’s not a dream, sweetie. That’s reality.” She twined her fingers through his and squeezed. “Come on. I know you’re getting hungry.”
He started the car, backed out, and drove them to the hotel, and some of Jerusha’s shame eased. She’d pushed him right out of his rough Southie humor with her temper, and that wasn’t right. She’d do better, though. He deserved better.
She settled into her seat, her hand nestled in his, and set her mind to exploring ways she could make it up to him.
* * *
Drew resettled his grip on the tops of Jerusha’s feet and focused on her face. When he’d suggested an hour of calisthenics, she’d gone into the bathroom and strolled back out five minutes later dressed in a sports bra, a tiny pair of athletic shorts, and running shoes. The rest of her was beautifully bare, dark skin glistening, lean muscles rippling every time she moved. She might as well have been wearing lingerie for the effect it had on him.
She eased her upper body toward the floor, then curved it into a sit up. “I think that’s it.”
“Come on, Jaybird. Is that the best you can do?”
“I’ve already done fifty.”
“Yeah, but you’re a Daughter.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Way I hear it, you’re like Wonder Woman or something. Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
She rolled her eyes and laid down on the towel spread between her and the hotel room’s cold, tile floor. “That’s Superman, Drew.”
“Same thing. You giving up?”
“Why do you keep challenging me? Do you have a death wish or something?”
No, but he did want her to get some sleep. The only two ways he could think of to wear her out were exercise and sex. Since their room was bugged and he sure as hell didn’t want to be overheard making love to her, sex was out. “How about pushups, me against you? First one to give out gets laundry duty for a week.”
She groaned. “Did Bobby put you up to this? ‘Cause if he did, I’m gonna kill him.”
He slipped his hands up her feet to her ankles. They were fine-boned and strong, her skin smooth and tempting. “Is that a no? I mean, if you’re scared of losing, I’ll understand.”
“Ok, fine. Let go so I can turn over and play your sadistic little game.”
“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
They settled onto the floor beside each other in stiff-armed plank positions, easing down and up in unison, Drew marking off their number. After a while, he fell into an easy, unthinking rhythm, down, up, count, down, up, count, and his mind wandered aimlessly, falling naturally to the woman beside him. Maybe they could watch a movie before they went to bed. Would she let him hold her? Would she ask him to cuddle with her again while she slept? He needed to dig out his sewing kit and reattach the buttons he’d ripped off her pajamas.
God, that had been great. She hadn’t complained a bit, either. How’d he get lucky enough to be paired with a woman who didn’t mind him ripping off her clothes? Fuck. Couldn’t thank Bobby for that. He’d go all protective brother on Drew, and Hiro would have to step in and break up a fight.
Not for the first time. Probably not the last, either.
Drew grinned and ignored the sweat snaking across his skin. He’d come right out and told Bobby he was interested in Jerusha when he’d checked in that afternoon. Bobby hadn’t said a word about it. Maybe he figured Jerusha could take care of herself or maybe he didn’t give a shit who his sisters dated. As long as it didn’t interfere with their work, and it by God wouldn’t, what did it matter?
Jerusha grunted and flopped onto the towel on her belly. “Ok, ok, you win. I’ll do the blasted laundry.”
Drew held his plank and stared at her, astonished. “We’re only on eighty-three.”
“And you’ve barely broken a sweat. Meanwhile, I’m getting sore.” She shifted onto her side, rotated her right arm back and forth, and grimaced. “Man, I’m out of shape.”
Not that he could tell, but if he didn’t have to do laundry for a week, who was he to argue? “Turn over on your back.”
She narrowed her bright eyes into slits. “Why?”
“I need seventeen more.”
“What does that have to do with me lying on my back?”
“Just do it.”
She eased slowly onto her back and crossed her hands together over her stomach. “Ok, I’m here.”
“Ankles apart.”
“This is getting weird, Drew.”
“Why? I need an incentive, and you under me sounds like a pretty good motivator.”
She plopped her heels onto the floor, a foot apart. “You’re such a man.”
“It’s my best quality.” He crab-walked the short distance between them and braced himself above her, hands on the floor beside her shoulders, feet together somewhere south of hers. He dipped down, kissed her throat, and pushed up. “Eighty-four.”
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah.” Dip down, lick her pulse, push up. “Eighty-five.”
She shifted on the floor and a slow smile spread across her face. “This has possibilities.”
“Mm-hmm.” Dip down, nip the skin along her shoulder, push up. “Eighty-six.”
“Maybe you could take your shirt off.”
“Can’t. Have to start all over again.” A sweet kiss to her mouth. “Eighty-seven.”
Her fingers delved under his shirt and caressed his bare skin above the waistband of his shorts. “How about if I take my top off?”
“Yeah?” He paused above her, considered it, shook his head. “Then I’d be honor-bound to take advantage and we’re in a no-sex zone.”
“Don’t be a hard ass.”
“Better me than you.” Down, blow softly into her ear, up. “Eighty-eight.”
“You’re deliberately arousing me.”
“No, baby. Wouldn’t do that to you.” A longer kiss, muscles burning as he held himself above her, their bodies barely touching. “Eighty-nine.”
Her fingers dug into his skin. “No, I’m pretty sure that was a hundred.”
He laughed, nuzzled her throat. “Ninety.”
“You’re a friggin’ machine, Drew.”
“I’m a soldier, Jaybird, used to training hard and long every single day.” He peered down at her, meeting her bright-blue gaze. “You want, I’ll stop.”
She blinked innocently up at him. “But then I’d miss the view. You wouldn’t want to deprive me of a great view, would you?”
“Sure would be a shame.” And he liked the view he had of her, the feel of her under him, her nails scratching into him. He lowered himself onto her and back up again. “Ninety-one.”
“Wait. You didn’t do anything.”
“I got to feel you. Close your eyes.” Her eyelids fluttered shut, and he pressed small kisses to both, then sucked her lower lip into his mouth. “Better?”
“Mmm. You didn’t count, though.”
“It was ninety-two.” Another kiss. “Ninety-three.”
“This is really kinda sweet.”
“If you say so.” Blow softly into her other ear. “Ninety-four.”
“Can it be a hundred now?”
“Nope.” Suckle the side of her neck, absorb the salty-sweet taste of her skin on his tongue. “Ninety-five.”
She gripped the front of his t-shirt and yanked gently. “You’re such a tease.”
Maybe, but it sure was fun. He nibbled along her jaw. “Ninety-six.”
“You have to be getting tired.”
Fuck, yeah. His arms were shaky and his abs ached, and he was pretty sure he was gonna fall on her as soon as he hit a hundred, but he didn’t want to stop. They’d rushed into everything so fast, he’d barely had a chance to savor her. Was it so wrong of him to want that now?
He finished his last four pushups and eased into the cradle of her body, hips aligned with hers, his forearms braced on the floor beside her head. “Thanks.”
“Hey, I got as much out of it as you did.” She lifted her knees, ran one leg down his. “We’re both covered in sweat. Shower with me?”
“You’re sexy as hell, Jaybird, but I ain’t ready to squeeze back into that shower stall with you again.” They’d barely fit the first time, and fuck if he didn’t want to spend a little time with her there, maybe have enough room to kneel in front of her and please her with his mouth or lift her up against the wall and push himself into her, pleasing them both.
“I’ll check that the next time I book a hotel for us, see if I can get a bigger bathroom or something.”
He drew back and met her gaze. That had sounded an awful lot like she wanted him to hang around a while, or maybe she figured the job would last a lot longer than they’d thought. A thread of something close to disappointment wound into the ache in his stomach. Yeah, that was probably it. She just expected the job to last longer, was all. He levered himself off of her and held his hands out, then pulled her up beside him. “You go first. I need to stretch out a little.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Go ahead, baby.”
“Ok, thanks.”
She pressed a fleeting kiss to his mouth and headed into the bathroom, stripping down as she went. Drew threaded his hands together behind his head and watched her, soaking in every detail of her body, the hollow of her spine, the curve of her hip, the contrast of her black braid against her delicious skin. A fucking work of art.
The heat sliding through his blood morphed into a curious tug on his heart. He shook his head and settled into a loose series of gentle stretches, his mind crowded with thoughts of her.
* * *
Jerusha snuggled under the covers with her laptop and opened her research files, one eye on Drew as he wandered around their hotel room. He’d been restless since he’d gotten out of the shower. She nibbled on one corner of her mouth and flipped through open tabs in her notebook software. The bout of exercise he’d coaxed her into had done wonders for her temper and stiff muscles, working out kinks she hadn’t even been aware of. Shouldn’t it have done the same for him?
He stuffed his dirty clothes into a mesh laundry bag, then shoved hers in on top of his.
“Shouldn’t I be doing that?” she asked.
He shrugged and dropped the bag onto the floor beside her suitcase. “Just getting it ready.”
“Can I help?”
“I got it, Jaybird.”
His voice was muted and slightly gruff, not even close to the snark she was used to getting from him. She sighed and reviewed her notes on the new underground city, trying to fix the details into her mind. One of the largest cities found to date, dozens of tombs discovered, a steady fifty-five degree interior.
Drew opened his suitcase and sorted through his clean clothes, and Jerusha’s focus on her work waned. Maybe he needed more to do at night. They were pretty busy during the day, but after supper, there wasn’t a lot needing his attention. One corner of her mouth turned down. When they’d first arrived in Turkey, he’d seemed to enjoy helping her with the research, sitting right beside her every night, wallowing all over her to the point of...
Her thoughts ground to a halt and her heart nosedived into her stomach. She’d needled him about wallowing on her that night he’d walked out on her, and now, he hardly touched her unless she asked. Was that why he kept his distance? Had she touched a nerve, one he didn’t want to admit to?
She exed out of the notebook program, closed her laptop, and set it on the mattress beside her. “I wouldn’t mind that rubdown.”
He pulled on a t-shirt over his underwear and closed his suitcase. “Sure. Let me get some lotion.”
“No, don’t. Here.” She patted the bed beside her. “Let’s cuddle while we’re at it.”
His dark blond eyebrows slipped a fraction lower and his mouth snapped shut. She handed him her laptop and scooted into the middle of the bed. He put her computer away, double-checked the locks on their room’s doors, and cut off every light except the lamp beside her side of the bed. He moved his lamp to the far corner of the room, then climbed into bed and settled himself a foot away from her.
She eased closer and skimmed the pads of her fingertips over the stubble covering his jaw, down his throat, across the firm curves of his mouth. “How’re your arms?”
“Dandy.”
“Not too tired?”
Heat sparked in his eyes. “Not for whatever you’ve got in mind.”
“Who says I’ve got something in mind?”
“The way you’re touching me.”
“I like touching you.” She liked it so much, it was hard to stop once she started. “Are you growing a beard?”
“Naw, just being lazy.” His hand cupped her hip, heavy and warm. “Used to keep one when I was in Spec Ops. Hides the line of your jaw, makes it easy to change your appearance if shit goes belly up.”
“So you kept a razor handy?”
His mouth twitched into a quick grin. “Only if I had to.”
She rubbed her fingertips into the prickly hair. “If I asked you to grow a beard so I could see what you’d look like, would you?”
“I’d think awful hard about it.”
“I’ll grow one for you.”
He threw his head back and laughed hard, and she melted into giggles.
“Come on, Drew. Tell me you wouldn’t pay to see that.”
“God, Jaybird. You’re something.” He curved his hand around her lower back and pulled her close. “I thought you wanted me to give you a massage.”
“I like what we’re doing,” she said mildly. “Besides, you need one as much as I do.”
“I’m good, baby, but thanks.”
“So you don’t want my hands on you.”
“Didn’t say that.”
He kissed her temple, soft and tender, so much like the sweet caresses he’d given her while he finished his pushups, her heart fluttered in her chest. She’d teased him about arousing her, but the truth was, his touch hadn’t been arousing as much as it had been endearing. It had been a long, long time since a man had touched her like that, as if she were more than a bedmate, as if she might hold a piece of him he’d never easily give.
Her fingers strayed to his mouth again, landing on the scar at the corner of his upper lip. It was small, no longer than a quarter inch, and narrow, and her curiosity about it got the better of her. “How’d you get this?”
He folded his arm up under his head and nestled close to her, and when he spoke, his voice dropped to a near whisper. “Street ball. My brother was pitching. Man, he had a fastball like you wouldn’t believe. Shot it straight at you so fast, it was scary, but his control was for shit. One day, I didn’t duck fast enough, and bam.”
She winced. “That had to hurt.”
“Like a mother. I was lucky I didn’t lose any teeth.”
“Bet you learned to duck, though.”
“You bet your sweet ass I did.”
Rich humor underscored his words. She wound it around herself, tucking it into her heart, and tried to imagine Drew as a scrawny kid playing ball with his brother on the streets of Boston. “Was he older or younger?”
“Older, by three years.”
“You hung out a lot?”
“Oh, yeah. He was the best big brother a kid could have. Never complained when Ma made him watch us.”
“Us?”
“Me and my kid sister, Trish.”
“Right, sorry. He never complained?”
“Not once, but that was Sean. He was a good guy, set on getting scholarships and going to college. Getting us out of Southie, he said.”
“But he died instead.”
“Yeah. Drive-by shooting a coupla years later, about three months before he was supposed to graduate from high school. We were outside playing ball.” He snorted out a soft laugh. “Not much else to do back then.”
She knitted her fingers into his t-shirt above his heart. “You were with him?”
“I was with him. God above, I wish I hadn’t been.” Drew’s hand tightened on her skin and his muscles tensed under her hand. “He shoved me onto the sidewalk, took a bullet for me. Fucking bled out right there in front of me, and not a damn thing I could do.”
She sucked in a breath. Sweet Mother. What a horrible thing for a young boy to watch. “It wasn’t your fault, Drew. You can’t believe it was.”
“Took a long time for me to realize it, Jaybird. Ma never forgave me, though. Sean was her favorite, her golden boy. Everybody loved him.”
Including Drew. His heart still ached for his big brother and the lives they could’ve lived. She could feel it in his touch, hear it in the hoarse whisper of his voice against her ear.
“After that, the family kinda fell apart. Dad got caught taking bribes. He was a cop. Stupid.” Drew’s breath sighed across her skin. “He committed suicide the day they took his badge. Trish fell in with the wrong crowd and got messed up in drugs, and Ma was never the same.”
“Was that when you went into the Army?”
His sharp laugh held not a trace of humor. “Nope. I went kinda crazy. Got caught trying to jack a federal judge’s car.”
“Drew.”
“I know, Jaybird. Didn’t say my dad was the only knucklehead in the family, did I?” He rolled one shoulder and shifted against her. “Anyhow, judge was pissed. Had the cops haul me into his office and gave me the ass chewing of my life. I was sixteen, hot-headed, full of shit, you wanna know the truth, and he whittled all that away, left me not a goddamn piece of myself. And then he gave me a choice. Finish school and enlist, or spend five years doing hard time in juvie.”
“You opted for school.”
“I wasn’t completely stupid, even back then. Not much better now.” He wedged a muscled thigh between hers and pulled her leg over his. “Though I must be kinda dense to dump all this on you.”
She rubbed her thigh over his. He felt so good under her, his muscles tight, the hair scattered there crisp. Her skin tingled, heating slowly, and a delicious weight settled low in her gut, echoing up, filling her. “I wanted to know. You don’t say much about yourself.”
“Not much to tell. You, though. I bet you got a ton of stories, old maid.”
She slid her hand under his shirt and across the hard ridges of his abs. “You must’ve forgotten what happened the last time you called me an old maid.”
“Hell, no, Jaybird. I was kinda hoping you’d do it again.”
She snickered and tucked her head under his chin, content to just be with him for a while. “You said no sex.”
“Didn’t I just tell you I’m not the brightest bulb in the socket?”
“I missed that part.”
And wouldn’t have given it a second thought, anyway. Drew might not be an intellectual, but he was far from dumb. He never would’ve made it into Special Forces if he were.
“So, old maid. You were born before the Civil War.”
“Careful, Drew. Your Yankee’s showing.”
He propped up on an elbow, his voice low and even. “Seriously, Jaybird. You gotta know I love all things war-related.”
“You’re such a man.”
“I thought we agreed that was my best quality.”
Since she liked all his manly parts and ways very much, she couldn’t disagree. “I guess you want a first-hand perspective.”
“Wouldn’t mind it. What was it like?”
“I never saw any of the fighting. Too young. My dad, though, he volunteered when I was, oh, about ten, I think.”
“For the South?”
“For the Confederacy. It was our home, Drew,” she said gently. “Did you expect us not to defend it?”
“I wasn’t criticizing, baby, just curious. What was your dad like?”
“The best man I ever knew, strong and brave and...” The sorrow of losing him welled up, gathering in her throat, as strong as it had been a century and a half ago, on the day her mother received the letter informing them of his death. Jerusha swallowed past it and squeezed her eyes closed, holding her tears at bay. “I loved him so much.”
Drew smoothed his hand up and down her back. “Shh, baby. Don’t cry.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I miss my dad, too. He was a crook and a thief, but he was still my dad.”
“I know, Drew. I’m sorry.”
“Stop with the apologies. Tell me about your dad. He was Cherokee?”
“Nearly full-blooded. Mom was in Tellowee teaching at one of the schools there. Moira was there, too, working on the Archives.”
“The Irish hellcat,” he muttered.
She laughed. What a way to put it. “I don’t know how they met. Mom never told me, but she went into her needing, and he was such a good man, so kind, so thoughtful.”
“You loved him.”
“More than anything. We spent a lot of time together when I was little, then war broke out and things got kinda tough and he decided to enlist. Broke my grandmother’s heart right in two. They’d already been through so much, having to hide when he was a little boy to keep from being marched into Indian Territory, struggling to live while their land was taken and their people scattered.”
He raked his fingers gently through her hair, and somehow, his touch soothed some of her sorrow away. She buried her face in his throat, drawing on the warmth and strength and goodness radiating out of him. “The day he left, he told me he’d always live in my heart. I think he knew he’d never come back and he wanted me to know how much he loved me. I watched him walk away with a group of local men headed for war and I never saw him again.”
“I wish things had been different.”
“At least I had him for a while. A lot of Daughters never know their fathers. Some never even know their father’s name, but I knew mine and I’ll never forget him, not a single thing about him.”
Silence descended around them, a comfortable blanket cocooning their shared secrets. Drew reached across her and flipped off the light, and the room plunged into darkness. They wrapped themselves around each other under the covers, two hearts longing for the families they’d once had, and fell quietly into dreams.
