I now understood why Em spent so much time with Ranger.
“I don’t want you to go to church,” I mumbled.
I didn’t even realize I said it out loud until Doc responded. “I know, beautiful. But some guys from The Devil’s Legion are going to help us with taking shifts of patrol at this homebase, so there won’t be too much back and forth traffic from here to the outside world. Should keep you guys from being compromised again.”
“Should?” I asked as I pulled back enough to peek up at him.
I just found him smiling comfortingly down at me. “Nothing is foolproof or perfect. But you’re in capable hands.”
“That I know.”
He smiled with pride. “Now come here and let me hold you before I have to get on my bike and leave.”
“Wait, church isn’t here?”
He shook his head. “Not really a space where we can have privacy and not have you women trying to eavesdrop.”
I gasped playfully. “My word, I do declare, I would never do such a thing.”
He chuckled and yanked me back against him. “Come here, you beautiful woman, you.”
I wanted to ask him when he’d be back, but something in my gut told me he probably didn’t know. So I allowed the music to filter back into my mind’s eye. The song changed to one I wasn’t familiar with, but it was slow and smooth just the same. His arms wrapped around me. Our bodies swayed to the rhythm that only we could hear.
And there was not a sex sound to be heard above it.
24
DOC
I drank her in as much as I could because I couldn’t tell her what I knew was coming. Cap didn’t the directive yet, but church would be a different story.
We were executing things tonight.
I felt it in my gut.
I relished the feeling of My Elizabeth in my arms. The way she melded to me. The way she trusted me now, implicitly. She didn’t pepper me with questions when I couldn’t answer. She would have done that mere days ago. She just bled into me like rain soaking into the sidewalk during a thunderstorm, and I accepted all of her.
Until it was time to pull away.
Most of the women weren’t happy that we had to leave. King and Cap conversed off to the side while Amanda held Ariel. Jasmine grasped onto Ghost like he was her only lifeline. Even Em shoved herself a bit closer to Ranger while we all gathered at our bikes.
It seemed all of us knew something heavy was hanging in the air.
My Liz said goodbye to me in her own way. She stood on the porch away from the crowd, with her arms tucked aroundher. She smiled at me, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She waved at me with that perfect little hand of hers that caressed my chest so beautifully whenever we danced. I picked mine up and waved back, which only made her smile brighter.
It still didn’t quite reach her eyes, though.
I couldn’t wait to get back and dance more with her.
Maybe that would get the smile to reach further.
There weren’t many words exchanged. Just enough for Cap to convey to King and his crew that the house was to be protected at all costs, no matter what. They clasped hands, they patted each other on the back, and then me and the rest of the crew piled back into the van that got us here.
We didn’t have our bikes due to the diversion.
But we did have a van and a Ranger.
“All right,” our tech guru said as he got done piddling around on his laptop, “our earpieces are locked down.”
