The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [112]
"I love you, Drake," she whispered softly. She still wasn't sure what the future held for them but she knew she had to let him know how she felt.
"And I love you," he said quietly. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.
Tori wouldn't settle for just a small kiss and reached out and pulled him to her and took over the kiss, desperately mating her mouth with his. He returned her kiss, deepened it and would have extended it had Ashton not cleared his throat a few times.
"We have to go, sweetheart," Drake said, reluctantly pulling away from her. "Remember your promise."
She nodded. She would remind him later that she hadn't promised him anything. She watched as the three men headed for the stairs, then Drake hesitated briefly, glanced back at her, winked and then strode up the stairs. She wasn't surprised when she heard the click of the basement door when he locked it behind him. He wasn't taking any chances of her not following his orders.
She looked at the pistols he had left her that had enough ammunition to bring down an army. She walked over and saw the screen whose video scanned the north side of Drake's property, and then she saw the figures of several men, about eight of them, carrying heavy-duty weapons as they slithered determinately toward the wooded area of Drake's property, unaware they were being captured on film.
She switched her attention to another screen at the same time the video camera picked up a helicopter that was landing in a clearing. A few minutes later she watched as three men got out of the helicopter, each heavily armed. Although the thickness of the pine needles of the trees slightly impeded her vision, Tori immediately recognized one of the men from photographs she had seen of him.
Solomon Cross.
A cold chill went down her body. The man looked as demented as she'd heard he was. She sat down and leaned back in her chair, knowing she needed to contact Trevor, Ashton, and Drake to let them know what was going on and where the enemy was located.
She opened her hand and stared at what lay in the palm. She smiled with satisfaction when she gazed at the key she had slipped out of Drake's pocket when she had intentionally taken over their kiss.
If he actually thought she would be pushed to the sidelines while he risked his life for her, he had another thought coming.
Drake wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while his pulse pounded. He, Trevor, and Ashton had split up after receiving word from Tori that they were outnumbered three to one. He scanned the immediate area knowing that somewhere out there were men who meant to kill him and Tori, and he was intent on not giving them the chance.
He was about to make a move toward a group of trees when he heard a zing of bullets, a few coming close to his head. He had been spotted and someone was firing at him.
He quickly dropped to the ground, appreciating the bed of thick pine needles that cushioned his fall, and rolled his body into a massive cluster of pine trees that immediately swallowed him up. Heart beating fast, his Beretta clutched tight and drawn, he waited, steadying his breathing and squinting his eyes against the evening sun to make out the lone figure he saw and wondered where the other cutthroats were. Evidently the three men who had arrived in the copter had also split up.
In the distance he heard more gunfire and knew either Trevor or Ashton had found action. He shifted his body and eased his breathing when he heard not one but two male voices.
"What if Cross is wrong and the woman is not hiding in the big house? This entire valley will go up in smoke when he sets the place on fire."
Fire! Tori was in danger and he had locked her in the basement! With a curse Drake shifted his body once again and picked up a pinecone nearby. Throwing it in the direction opposite