50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter Twenty-Nine

    Destiny slept; Aubrey found that he couldn't. So he alternated between marveling at how amazing it was to hold her in his arms again and mourning the loss of a son robbed of the chance at being born. The truth was, he, Destiny, and the FBI were approaching the situation wrong. He and Destiny shouldn't have to run around hiding from Palmer's people. Palmer's people should be exterminated. One by one, they should each be robbed of their lives, just as they had robbed Aubrey of having another son...and just as they'd come close to robbing Destiny of her life.

    Once the thought occurred to him, he couldn't let it go. That was the only solution here. In any reality Palmer was allowed to live, he was going to keep coming for Aubrey and Destiny. That's how sick the man was. He can't be allowed to live, Aubrey realized while Destiny slept peacefully in his arms. He has to die.

~~~~

    "How long have you been awake?"

    Be honest, and she's going to worry about you.

    She stared hard at him. "You never slept."

    "That's the trouble with someone knowing you so well," Aubrey muttered, sitting up straighter in bed.

    "Well...we can stay in bed today, then."

    He shook his head. "You can't change your routine."

    Her brows furrowed. "Meaning?"

    "Meaning, you should be going to the library...or wherever you would go today," he answered. "If you change up your routine now, the agents assigned to you would get suspicious. That's the last thing we need."

    "So you'd stay here all day? By yourself?"

    "Believe it or not, I've managed to spend time on my own without any trouble," he said.

    She laughed nervously and wiped her eyes. "I didn't mean...no, you're right. That was stupid." 

    He caught her hand as she attempted to stand for bed. "Will you do me a favor, baby girl, and stop that?"

    "Stop what?"

    "Criticizing yourself."

    She lowered her head and avoided his gaze. 

    He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, then drew her hand to his lips so he could press a kiss to it. "It would never occur to me to call you stupid. You're one of the smartest people I know."

    "Thank you."

    He continued pressing kisses to her hand.

    In turn, she cupped his cheek in her hand and lovingly stroked the side of his face. "Okay, so...I go to the library today."

    "I'll just chill here and wait for you to come back."

    "Okay." The expression on her face said that she didn't want to leave him. 

    The last thing he wanted to do was encourage her to leave, even if it was only for a few hours. But any deviation in her current habits would cause the FBI agents to watch her more closely. If she were watched any more closely, the agents would catch them and whisk her aware to some remote location he'd never heard of. Would that be so bad, as long as you know she's okay? he wondered. Maybe I should be asking if I'm even sure she's okay.

    While still holding his hand, she stood stroking her stomach, albeit absent-mindedly. She seemed to snap out of her reverie. "If I'm going to the library, then I definitely need to shower."

    He released her hand, even though he didn't want to, and watched her leave the room. Then he settled back against the pillows and waited for the telltale sound of shower water. While she's at the library, I can try to come up with a plan to get Palmer out of our lives for good. 

    Her shower was quick. She returned to the bedroom with soaking wet blonde hair, a sight he was still getting used to. He missed her dark curls. "My name is Karissa Engleman," she kept repeating to herself. "I was born and raised in Zion, Illinois, and have a huge family. I earned a basketball scholarship and am a huge NBA fan."

    "Karissa Engleman?" he repeated.

    "My new identity," she explained while grabbing articles of clothing from the closet.

    He eyed the clothing while scratching the back of his head. "They did a great job of making you over."

    "You almost didn't recognize me," she stated.

    "Are you kidding me?" He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His steps were slow as he moved to the foot of the bed, where he raised a hand and smoothed it down the length of her arm. "You could've been wearing a blindfold and I would've recognized you."

    She rolled her eyes. "You're just saying that."

    "I'm not just saying that," he maintained. "You think I wouldn't recognize those sexy ass lips? The glowing skin tone you have? You think I wouldn't recognize the shape of your body? My eyes and tongue have every slope of your body memorized."

    She rolled her eyes again but couldn't help smiling this time. 

    "There is no disguise they could put you in that would keep me from recognizing my baby," he swore.

    "That's some big talk," she murmured.

    He circled around her and came to stand behind her. Dipped his head down and pressed his lips to her bare shoulder, swept blonde hair from the nape of her neck and moved his lips there. "Big is all I know," he said softly, pressing himself into her.

    She laughed and shook her head. "If you don't want me to change my schedule, then I need to get dressed. The guys will be knocking on that front door any minute now."

    He sighed in disappointment and reached around her to touch the dress she was holding. "Do you know what Carlos would say to these fashion disasters?"

    "He'd disown me for a fourth time," she joked. 

    "Whereas I'd tell you that you could make anything look good," Aubrey said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before moving away from her. 

    Her eyes followed him as he moved around the room, inspecting things and randomly touching them. "I asked them to give me DVDs and a tv. The tv isn't hooked up to cable or anything. They're paranoid about anything that would give a signal. I could bring the DVDs up, if you want. Maybe a little bit of food and water. I don't have a full fridge or anything, but they did do their version of grocery shopping for me. Basic stuff to make PB&J, or ham sandwiches."

    "Appetizing," Aubrey said, stroking the cover of a book on the nightstand. 

    "We have to keep a low profile," she said with a shrug.

    He smiled at her from across the room. "My covert little angel."

    Her cheeks flushed. "I've learned a few things from Darius and his team."

    "I wish you'd just let me speak to Darius and his team."

    "I want to stay in our bubble for as long as we can," she said, pouting.

    There wasn't much he could say to that, because he knew how she felt. The more they involved other people, the more danger they were in. Especially considering the fact that Darius wanted Palmer prosecuted while Aubrey wanted Palmer dead. "Me too," Aubrey said softly.

    Destiny finished dressing, grabbed entertainment and food for him, then walked over and hugged him. "Stay away from the windows as much as possible. That's what they told me, when I first moved in here. I can't wait to come back to you."

    He kissed her and groaned in pleasure when she sucked on his bottom lip. Then she was gone, and the only clue that he hadn't imagined the entire thing was the floral scent she left behind.