Chapter 13 #2
Everyone agreed—some more reluctantly than others—and they began planning.
Joel would be called in the next few minutes, and he’d be asked to leave tonight.
Alex’s heart sank. There was no way she’d be able to convince Miles not to let Joel go.
The man was set on having his newest elite ops member go.
She’d have to figure out a way to let Nathan know.
Of course, there was always the chance she was freaking out over nothing, and Nathan wasn’t anywhere near that facility.
But the sinking feeling in her stomach told her she needed to let him know as soon as possible.
She had his number. As soon as this meeting was over, she’d text him, call him—whatever it took to save Joel’s life.
? ? ?
“Fuck!” Joel Keller growled as he pumped one last time into his girlfriend’s hot pussy.
Valerie moaned and wrapped her legs around him tighter, convulsing as another orgasm hit her hard. Hot spurts of cum jetted out of him and painted her channel. He buried his head in her neck and groaned as he went limp on top of her.
“J—Joel, you are…squishing me,” Valerie squeaked, and he immediately lifted himself up and rolled off her, his softening cock pulling from her. “Thank you,” she giggled.
“Sometimes I forget you don’t want two hundred and twenty pounds lying directly on you,” he said, grinning.
Joel was six foot three and was solid muscle, and despite the fact that Valerie was five-nine, she was tiny compared to him. He loved every delectable inch of her from her gorgeous face, her raven-black hair, and her luscious body. She was his angel.
“No, I like you on top of me—just not all of you.”
“Sorry, angel. I just lose myself when I’m fucking you.”
“And that was pretty vanilla for you,” she reminded him.”
Joel admitted that he did have some interesting tastes when it came to sex. Valerie humored him and was up for almost everything: bondage, spanking, sex toys. His angel was still on the fence about that forbidden hole he wanted to take in the worst way, but he was a patient man.
“You know what’s good with vanilla is a little fudge on top,” he stated deadpan.
Valerie burst out laughing.
“Did you really just make a butt-sex joke?”
“Yeah, but you have to admit it was pretty good.”
“It was.”
“So, can I?”
“Can you what?”
Valerie fluttered her eyes as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. The minx.
“Fuck you there. I have some trainers we can use first. I mean, I am a pretty big guy.”
“And there you go talking about your dick.”
“How many times did you just come on it?” Valerie bit her lip. Three. She had come three times. “Exactly. So, what do you say?”
“Well, maybe—”
Joel’s cell phone cut her off before she could say more. He had put it on a do-not-disturb setting that would only ring except for a few important people, which meant he needed to answer.
“Mother fucker,” he growled, grabbing the phone off the end table. When he saw it was Miles, he scowled. “Yeah,” he answered, thoroughly annoyed that his boss had interrupted this extremely important conversation.
“Are you available for a mission?” Miles asked without preamble.
Joel sat up, his attention solely on his boss. Did he hear Miles correctly? A mission? He had been waiting for this phone call.
“When you say mission, do you mean help out like I did when we were searching for Alex, or do I get to go and do cool shit?”
There was a chuckle on the other end of the line.
“You get to go and do, as you put it, cool shit.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. And you’re the only one who can do it.”
“Because I’m the best?”
“Uh, because you’re the closest, and I need this done tonight. But there was also talk of you being pretty good.”
Joel snorted.
“Did Logan mention who holds all the training records now?”
“That may have come up…”
“Then, I must be the—”
“Joel, just shut up and listen,” Miles interrupted. “Do you happen to have your, uh, Reaper suit and mask?”
Joel sat there, stunned. Valerie frowned. He knew she heard the word “Reaper” from the other end of the line and was concerned. He had packed away that part of his life after he had started therapy and medication, promising Miles and his angel he wouldn’t run off playing vigilante anymore.
“I was told no more Reaper,” Joel told him firmly.
“Yes, I know—”
“No more Reaper,” he reiterated. “I distinctly remember you saying that as a condition of my employment. I wouldn’t want to break that by—”
“Will you stop being facetious and just listen?” Miles asked impatiently.
“Sure.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Is it destroyed?”
“No.”
“Then who has it?”
“A friend.”
“Can you get the suit from this friend?”
“Not without him asking questions you won’t let me answer.”
There was grumbling on the other end of the line.
“Who has the suit?” Valerie mouthed.
“Sam,” he replied, referring to his friend and employee who had helped him when Joel had first met Valerie. Sam was also going to be the Psychotherapy Director for the new women’s center.
“Oh,” she said, shaking her head.
“Actually, I do have a spare,” Joel said, thinking of the stockpile of weapons and cars he had obtained as the Reaper. He still hadn’t completely cleared it out.
Valerie elbowed him hard.
“You said you didn’t have any more!” she yelled.
Joel held a finger to his lips so he could hear Miles. He’d have to deal with his angel after the phone call.
“You are not getting out of this one that easily,” she grumbled.
“I need you to check out a location as the Reaper,” Miles told him. “I do not want Gray Tower’s involvement known in case you are spotted. It could put lives at risk.”
“But my life isn’t worth it?” Joel joked.
“You signed up for the job.”
“I was…never mind. Tell me what I need to do.”
“I need you to go to a location in East Cleveland as the Reaper and scout. Try not to be seen because this is most likely a Conglomerate site.”
“East Cleveland?” Joel laughed. “I have to arrive at the location alive before I need to worry about the Conglomerate.”
“Joel, can we be serious…”
“I was being serious.”
There was grumbling on the other end of the line before Miles said, “Just get up there, scout the area, and report back. I’ll send you the details, and Jack will talk to you more as you travel.
If you are seen, I need you in character as the Reaper.
I don’t want this to fall back onto Gray Tower. Got it?”
“Yes, boss.”
The line ended without another word.
“You eavesdropped on that whole thing, huh?”
Valerie nodded.
“Well, you know what that means…”
“Make love to me one more time?” she asked hopefully.
“I was going to say play some Blue ?yster Cult while I put on my Reaper outfit, but sure.”
“Just be careful. Okay? You are being a bit more…hyper today, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Joel nodded, knowing Valerie meant no offense in pointing out he was experiencing a bit of hypomania, a milder form of bipolar mania.
“I’ll tell the doctor first thing tomorrow so we can adjust the meds. And I will be careful.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. Now, let me tell you why they put the word ‘Rubber’ in Rubber City Reaper,” he growled and pulled himself back over Valerie, grinning wickedly.