Street Game (GhostWalkers 8)

Sometimes suggestion worked and sometimes it back-fired. Jacob practiced often, but there was no telling how someone would react. There were a few resistant, but most reacted as if hypnotized, and strangely, the higher the IQ, the easier it was for Jacob to give them a "push." The Marine and his partner walked off and disappeared into the drizzling rain and fog.

Jacob went first with the girl. He whispered soft assurances to her when she clutched at him, scared of the dark, scared of leaving Dae-sub. Once he was in the garden, Mack moved after him, running lightly with Dae-sub, weaving in and out of the shadows and shrubbery.

You ready, Kane? We've got two more soldiers close, but if we hurry, we can slip through to the fence.

Javier? Kane asked.

Right behind you, Gunny, Javier said. Once we're near the fence, Gideon will have us and he never misses.

She guided Kane through the dark grounds, running from shrub to shadow until the fence was looming ahead. Jacob, still holding the little girl, cleared it with ease, dropping to the other side and running to the van with his burden.

Mack shifted his burden and crouched low. He propelled himself up and over, using only his leg muscles. Dae-sub cried out softly when they landed, but Mack clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound. They lay almost in plain sight.

Jaimie dragged Kane down as the guard's radio crackled and running footsteps could be heard.

I've got him, boss, Gideon said. Give me the go-ahead.

The guard reported all was fine. It was the longest minute of Jaimie's life with every second lasting an eternity.

The footsteps stopped and faded away.

Go, go, she urged Kane and they ran for the fence as Mack leapt up, dragging the boy with him and sprinting for the van.

Kane and Jaimie went over the fence together. Javier stood beside the guard, showed him his watch, and whispered, "You have thirty-seven minutes left to do your job. Get them the hell out of our country." He leapt the fence and made his way back to the van.

Javier yanked Gideon inside, the doors slammed shut, and the van was hurtling down the street toward safety where General Chun waited for his son and the kidnapped girl. Jaimie could actually breathe again. The little girl began to cry softly and the young man pulled her into his arms protectively. Jaimie knew none of them looked reassuring in their masks and night combat gear, but it was essential to protect their identities. She touched the young man gently to try to give him confidence in them.

Paul immediately began to work on Dae-sub and she kept her face averted, waiting her turn, her head pounding, but elation sweeping through her. They'd rescued the children and there was no evidence of their participation in the rescue and no evidence of the hostages on the embassy's grounds. She looked up and smiled at Mack through the trickling blood.

CHAPTER 20

Pleasure burst through Jaimie like champagne bubbles. She felt warm and drowsy, her body coming awake inch by slow inch. She felt Mack's body wrapped tightly around hers, his hands stroking over her skin with familiar knowledge, his mouth nuzzling her breast. She laughed softly, feeling complete. She loved waking up to him--to this. She closed her eyes and let the feeling take her, sweeping through her bloodstream on a tide of pure heat.

"You awake, baby?" Mack whispered against her bare skin, his teeth nibbling gently over the swell of her breast.

Jaimie slid her hands over his back, up to his hair. "Yes. I love waking up to you."

"I've been lying here next to you most of the night thinking about us." He pressed kisses along the valley between her breasts up to her throat. He propped himself up on one elbow, leaning over her, his dark gaze moving broodingly over her face.

Her heart jumped. She'd known this was coming since the rescue of the children. Mack had to go back where he belonged. She'd gotten used to being with him, with the others. The others had left a few days earlier and she and Mack had spent days just worshipping each other's bodies. They rarely left the bed for anything other than food and drink and to watch the ocean under a blanket of stars.

She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to lose him again; it was going to tear out her heart. She made a move to roll out from under him but he moved with his incredible speed and pinned her there. His hand on her shoulder was extremely gentle, yet she felt the steel in him, reminding her of the ease with which he'd carried the teenager through the embassy grounds and then leapt the fence with him.

She'd never forget the sight of Mack moving fast, the boy slung over his back, his face determined. Her heart fluttered. He'd been born a warrior. He'd been born to lead. She didn't want to give him back, but she knew he had to go. He'd averted a nuclear war. She couldn't keep him in her bed, tied to her.

Jaimie took a deep breath and braced herself, reluctantly meeting his eyes.

"Come back to me, Jaimie. I need you to come back," Mack said softly. He pressed his finger over her mouth when she frowned and took a breath. "Listen to me. I laid here for hours figuring things out. You're part of me and when I don't have you, I can't breathe right, let alone function. You make me whole. You keep me mellow. You're the best person I know. I can talk about anything with you. Most of all, when I'm out there doing what I do, you're the reason I do it. You're the reason I know I'm going to make it back." He brushed his mouth back and forth over hers in small, coaxing caresses. "With you, Jaimie, I've got everything. Without you, there isn't much to life."

"Mack, you said . . ." Jaimie's heart was beating so hard she was afraid he could hear.

"I know what I said, Jaimie. It was bullshit. I want a home. With you. A family. You are my family. You want children, we'll have them. I don't give a damn how many. Maybe a dozen so you don't think about walking out on me again."

She knew her shock showed on her face. She'd been dreading the moment he left, knowing he would be ripping out her heart, but she hadn't expected him to ask her to go with him. "But . . ." Her business. Her warehouse. Everything she'd worked for. Could she give it all up and follow him? To what? He'd be gone more than he'd be with her. But could she live, really live, without him?

"I know what I'm asking, Jaimie. I do. I want to wake up every morning to you. I want to sit in a rocking chair with you when we're old. I want to laugh with you, cry with you. I also know what kind of life I'm offering."

"Do you, Mack?" she asked. Because she'd shared the danger of missions with him and when he went out, she'd know exactly how bad it really was. She'd have to sit at home waiting, scared, alone. Completely alone.

His fingers bunched in her curls. "Of course I do, Jaimie. I took you for granted. I'm not going to pretend I didn't or that it won't happen again. And I'm bossy. I won't pretend I don't know the way I am. I can be jealous and stupid when it comes to you, but no one will ever love you the way I do. I detest that word. It doesn't say half of what I feel for you. Everyone loves ice cream. You're my world. My heart. I know what I'm asking, Jaimie. And I know you've built something here. I'll help you build it again with me."

She opened her mouth twice before anything came out. "I wasn't expecting this, Mack. I'm not prepared."

He leaned in and kissed her, not above bribing her or seducing her if it worked. Her mouth was magic, warm and soft and filled with passion, with fire, with everything Jaimie. His mouth left hers reluctantly. He pressed his forehead against hers. "Come back to me, baby."

"I don't know if I can," she whispered, terrified of losing him, of losing herself. She'd fought hard to be her own person. "People establish patterns and we fell into one that wasn't so good. What makes you think it will be different this time?"

He kissed her chin, the corners of her mouth. His teeth tugged on her lower lip and he brushed kisses there too. "Because I'm different. So are you. I know we're good together. I'm better with you than on my own."

Jaimie sat up, needing to put space between them. She couldn't think when he was holding her, when his body was wrapped so strong and protectively around hers. When she felt their

energies connected, as if they shared the same skin with one heart beating between them. Not when he was saying words she'd always dreamt he'd say to her. She slid out of bed and paced a couple of steps away, the only safe way to say what needed saying.

Jaimie looked at his face. The hard angles and planes. His firm mouth and strong jaw. Everything she needed was right there. But he was born for something far more and he loved what he did. Loved it. He wasn't going to stop and he shouldn't. But she didn't fit into that world. Tears clogged her throat, burned together into a lump she couldn't swallow.