Blood Talisman by J. P. Bowie Read Free Book Online Page B

Phew… Talk about security. I
    thought I was going to have to spread my butt cheeks to get through.”
    “Tommy, I asked you not to do this. You promised me—”
    “I didn’t promise. If you remember I didn’t say anything—I just kissed you—remember
    now?” He laughed seductively. “’Course, that kiss did hold a promise, just not the one you thought it did. I didn’t hear you complaining at the time.”
    “Tommy, please, don’t get on the plane. It’s too dangerous here and—”
    “Too late. I’m already in line. If I back out of here now there’ll be an international
    incident, and you wouldn’t want me arrested, now would you?”
    Andrew groaned. “Oh, Tommy—what will I do with you?”
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    “You have to ask?” Tommy’s sexy chuckle was warm in Andrew’s ear. “You must be
    losing your touch. How’d it go with Marcus’ friends?”
    “They are safe. We got here just in time. Now look, Tommy—”
    “You got a hotel room?”
    Andrew sighed. “Yes, at the Saadoun. Don’t forget there is a ten-hour time differential.”
    “I know. I’ll get a cab to the hotel if you can’t make it. Can’t wait to see you.”
    And Andrew couldn’t wait to see Tommy. Despite the man’s recklessness, his stubborn
    refusal to stay behind and out of danger—or perhaps in a way because of those things too—
    Andrew couldn’t wait to hold Tommy in his arms, and cover his face with kisses. He was
    hard just thinking about it.
    “You’ve gone quiet,” Tommy’s teasing voice whispered. “Are you thinking of what
    you’re going to do to me when I get there?”
    “You know me too well,” Andrew said, laughing in spite of himself.
    “I’ll see you soon. Szeretlek , babe.”
    “I love you too.” Andrew closed his phone and sighed. He knew he had lost the battle
    of wills over Tommy’s decision to join him in Iraq. They had argued about it long and hard with Tommy yelling that if Andrew was going to be fool enough to join Marcus and Roger in their attempt to rescue Andorra and Tony, well, then he was going to darn well be fool enough to go too.
    “Because I saw your eyes light up when Iraq was mentioned,” Tommy had said
    smugly. “You think that while you’re there you can go see if what Dakar told you is true or not. Am I right? Of course I am, and if you’re going to do that, then I’m going with you!”
    Andrew had locked eyes with him but Tommy had looked away quickly.
    “Don’t even try that, Andrew,” he’d said angrily. “You make me forget all this and I
    will never speak to you again. When I remember what I’m mad at you for, that is. You
    understand? You cannot manipulate me every time you think I’m sticking my neck out. I am not going to let you do this by yourself.”
    “But I won’t be by myself—Marcus and Roger will be there—”
    “I don’t care!”
    And on and on they had argued back and forth. Andrew had thought he’d extracted a
    promise from Tommy eventually that he would wait until Andrew had contacted him, but
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    BLOOD TALISMAN J.P. Bowie 37
    now when he played that scene back in his mind, there had been no promise spoken—only a
    kiss. A kiss that had led to an even more distracting and wonderful situation.
    And he calls me manipulative!
     
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Chapter Five
    Andrew received a message from Marcus the following day that the Secretary of State
    had cleared them to accompany the Presidential contingent to the bunker for the first round of meetings with the Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders. Tommy’s flight wouldn’t arrive for several more hours, even if it was on schedule, so he felt easy about falling in with the plan.
    As luck would have it, a thoroughly pissed-off Tommy had called him from Frankfurt to let him know the layover there had been extended by four hours.
    “If I didn’t know better,” Tommy had seethed, “I’d