Chapter 1
"Did everyone get my memo?" Don Eppes asked his team.
"The one about the new teammate?" Megan asked, looking at her boss, when he nodded, she replied, "Yes,"
"Yeah, same here," David confirmed
"New teammate, what?" Colby asked, confused.
"Oh, come on, Colby, we were so close to a perfect memo distribution!" Don replied, mock-aggravated.
"Ok, so new teammate, what's this about?" Colby continued.
"We have a new teammate joining our team today, she should be here soon,"
"Cool, who is it?" Colby asked, curiously.
"Her name is Mallory Johnson, She transferring here from our office in Islamabad, Pakistan,"
The team heard the elevator ding, and the doors open.
"That's her, now," Don informed the team.
She walked over to her new team, when she looked at Colby, she immediately smiled, "Granger?"
He stood up and walked over to her, "You betch'a, Johnny,"
Her smile grew, "Ew! Don't call me that!"
"Since when is it not Johnny?" Colby asked, surprised, also smiling, "You've always been Johnny!"
"I know, but, when I became an agent, it just wasn't professional enough, so, yeah," She explained.
"I take it you two know each other?" Don asked.
"Yeah, we grew up together, we were neighbors." Colby explained, looking into her eyes.
"Ok, well, she doesn't know us yet," Don said, holding out his hand for her, "My name is Don Eppes."
She shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, Mallory Johnson,"
Megan and David both introduced themselves and sat back down at their desks.
Just then, the desk phone started to ring, Don picked it up, "Eppes,"
He had a quick conversation with the person on the other end of the receiver, he hung up.
"We've got two dead hikers in the mountains. Pack your bags, we're going to be there for a while." He informed them, "Be back here in an hour, and we'll all leave together,"
The team members nodded and walked out of the office building. Colby stopped Mallory before she get into her car.
"Haven't seen you in almost ten years and I don't even get a hug?" He said to her.
"Well, no offense, but that last time I saw or heard from you was seven years ago," She said, bitterly.
"Where did my nice little Johnny go?" He asked her.
"I stopped being your nice little Johnny years ago, when you stop returning my calls,"
"You have to understand, I had a job that I needed to do, and I couldn't drag you into with me,"
"I don't have to understand anything, Colby," She said, turning around attempting to get into her car.
Colby grabbed her arm, and turned her around, pressing his lips against hers. At first Mallory resisted, but then relaxed, resting her hands up against his chest. He pulled his lips away from hers.
"I have to go," Mallory said, turning around and getting into car, and driving away. Colby stood in the parking lot for a few minutes before turning around and getting into his car, driving to his house.
He quickly packed a bag a picked up his phone. He dialed Mallory's number that he knew by heart. Her phone began to ring, and she picked it up. Colby's name came across the front. She took a deep breath and slid her finger across the screen on her phone, answering it.
"Hello," She said, into the phone.
"Hey, you done packing?" He asked.
"Yeah, you?" She responded, not sure where he was taking this conversation.
"Yeah, where are you staying?" Colby said.
"Um, in an apartment building about ten minutes from the office," Mallory responded, "Why?"
"I need to talk to you, can you give me the address so I can come see you?" He asked, sweetly.
"Yeah," Mallory responded, giving him the address, and waiting for him to arrive.
When he walked in the door, she had settled in on the couch with a cup of tea. He slipped off his shoes and sat down next to her.
"Just give me a minute to talk, before you say anything," Colby responded, seeing her sip her cup of tea.
She nodded, and waited for him to continue.
"After that night…" They both knew what night he was referring to, "It was so hard for me to leave, I didn't want to, but it was something that I had to do,"
She stared contently at him, occasionally sipping from her mug.
"I also didn't want to lose contact with you, but I got assigned to a job where I couldn't keep any of my old ties." He explained, seeing she was going to say something, "Just let me finish…"
She settled back into the arm of the couch, and listened contently.
"I wanted to tell you, I really did, but everything was classified," He finished, "You can talk now,"
"It's just, I couldn't bear it when you first left, the only thing keeping me from breaking down was the contact I had with you, after we lost contact…" She couldn't even finish her sentence; she was looking down into her mug, running her thumb across the rim of it.
"I'm so sorry, Mallory," Colby apologized, seeing her set her mug down on the coffee table in front of them.
"I have a question," Mallory admitted, sliding closer to Colby on the couch.
He looked at her and Mallory took this as a sign to continue, "What you said that night…" She started, not taking her eyes off of his, "Was it true?"
He smiled slightly, "Yeah, it was…" he bit his bottom lip, and grabbed a hold of her hands, "It still is,"
She took a deep breath and connected her lips with his, forcing his back down to the arm of the couch. She put her hands on his chest, to hold herself up over his body. He swung his legs up onto the couch, and she laid down next to him; his arm securely wrapped around her body. She briefly separated her lips from his to catch her breath, before connecting them once again.
"If Don found out he would kill us," Colby muttered in between kisses.
"Does it look like I care," She replied, the scene vaguely reminding her of the night that they had talked about earlier.
Flashback:
Mallory carefully trotted into Colby's house. Colby heard someone enter and walked downstairs.
"Johnny, what are you doing here?" He said, almost coming across as angry.
"Where's your mom?" She asked, hesitantly, ignoring his previous question.
"She's not here," Colby replied, still wondering why his friend was here.
"Good,"
"What?" He asked confused, "Johnny, you know that I'm leaving for basic training tomorrow, let's not make this any harder than it has to-"
He was cut off by Mallory grabbing onto his thin cotton t-shirt, pulling his lips down to hers. At first he didn't react, but as soon as he realized what was going on, he wrapped her meager body in his strong arms. She grasped to his t-shirt tighter as she slowly released his lips.
"What was that for?" Colby asked her, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
"I just needed to do that…. If I never get another chance," She replied, releasing his shirt, and stepping out of his embrace, turning around towards the door.
"Mallory," He sighed, looking at her with despair visible in his eyes.
She stopped, and abruptly turned around when she heard her first name come out of his mouth.
"You just called me Mallory," She whispered, barely audible. The last time she remembered Colby calling her Mallory was when they first met, and he hadn't started calling her Johnny yet. That was when she was five, and he was seven. Now, eleven years later, he finally used her first name again.
"Don't go," Colby pleaded. Walking to Mallory, and gently brushing a piece of hair away from her face.
"This is just going to make it harder for you to leave, you said it yourself," She replied, her voice breaking, tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't care anymore," He said, desperation present in his voice, "When I leave tomorrow, I don't want to have any regrets," He cupped her face, tenderly in his hands. Gently brushing his thumb against her cheek bone, "and we might not get another chance."
She nodded slightly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. He bent down and connected his lips with hers once again. Mallory reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling down slightly to keep him there. Colby's hands had found a place resting on her hips.
He guided her, and pressed her body against the wall. She was now squished in between his solid body, and the wall. Mallory pulled back slightly, taking a breath of air, and easily reconnecting her lips with his once again. His hands roamed down past her butt and to the back of her thighs. Colby easily picked Mallory up, maneuvering her legs to wrap around his waist. She clung to his body, tightly. He pressed his tongue up against her lips, deepening the kiss as it entered her mouth. Mallory had her hands planted firmly in his thick brown hair. Running her fingers through it as she kissed him.
"Bedroom?" He panted, waiting for her response.
She nodded shyly, clinging to him tighter as he walked up the stairs, and swung the door to his bedroom open, reconnecting his lips with hers once again as he kicked the door shut, he pressed her back up against the closed door. Colby moved his hands from under her thighs, to her back. She dropped her legs to the floor, using his neck for balance as she rose up to her tip-toes, she still had to pull his head down to keep their lips connected. She was a considerable amount shorter than he was, in retro-spec; she was a considerable amount shorter than a lot of people, only being 5 feet even.
She was again, sandwiched between Colby and a wall. He released her lips as he moved his down to her neck. She planted sweet kisses against the side of his face. Mallory moved her hands from his hair, and latched her fingers onto two of his belt loops, pulling her towards him. As his entire body connected with hers, she could feel that he was hard. Even with her on her tiptoes she could feel this just barely above her pant line.
He reached down and started to un-tuck her shirt from her pants. She pulled away from the kiss, and he pulled the article of clothing up and over her head. She was wearing a simple beige bra, and in all the years of their friendship, she had never been exposed like this with him.
"You're beautiful, Johnny," Colby whispered seductively into her ear. She smiled slightly, tugging at his shirt, barely pulling it off his head, even with his help. He ran his hands up and down her back, doing this made her gasp.
He looked at her concerned, stopping his motion for a moment.
"You're hands are cold," She explained, gazing into his hazel eyes.
"Sorry," He said, his voice barley there.
"I'll live," She replied, smiling at him while reconnecting their lips once again.
They both made their way over to his bed, and collapsed onto it. Mallory pulled on Colby's belt buckle, undoing it, and waiting for some sort of response before undoing his pants. Colby smiled, and reconnected his lips with hers, her hands were still holding onto the top of his pants. While he was kissing her, she undid the button, and carefully pulled down the zipper. She used her hands, and pulled them down to right above his knees. She used her foot to get them down to his ankles, where Colby was able to kick them off, they both heard the belt that was still looped into the pants, clank as it hit the ground. He was left in just a pair of dark blue boxers.
Colby reached down and pulled on her pants, making the button pop loose and the zipper open. He assisted her in wiggling out of them. They were both just left in their under ware. They continued kissing and they were both losing their patience. He reached under her, and undid the clip holding her bra on. He pulled the garment loose tossing it to the floor.
He began kissing the skin that he just revealed. He could tell that Mallory was very self-conscious, especially in front of him.
"Sweetheart, you are so beautiful," He whispered to her, gently pressing his lips against her chest.
The way that he had just called her 'sweetheart' put her over the edge. She wanted him so badly.
"Colby," She breathed, begging for him to stop teasing her.
"Johnny," He said, in between kisses.
"Take me," She pleaded, "Make me yours,"
"You sure?" Colby responded, already moving his hand to the top of her panties.
"Yes," Mallory replied, reaching up and grasping onto his neck.
He nodded and pulled her panties off of her, leaving her completely naked under him. She reached up and pulled on the elastic in the waist band of his boxers. She pushed his boxers down, and they both were completely clothes-less. She arched her back up, grinding her hips against his.
He groaned as she continued, which only made her execute her action more fiercely. He wrapped his arms around her as he rolled them over, both of them lying on their sides. She used the little bit of momentum that he had created by rolling them over, to keep them rolling until she was on top.
"You like control," Colby concluded, smirking, "I like it,"
"Shhh…" She said, kissing him again, straddling his waist.
After a few more minutes of feverish kissing, he spoke up one more time.
"You ready?" He asked.
She nodded, feeling him flip them over once again, so he was on top again. She felt him settling himself in between her legs; she wrapped her legs around his waist, as he slowly lowered himself into her. She could feel a sharp bite of pain as it first begun, but soon evolved into a pure bliss. Her hands grasped at his back. He began to move in and out, and she moaned.
He covered her mouth with his, preventing any more noise from coming out.
His hands found her hair, and pulled it back from her face. He planted kisses all around on it. She groaned again, pulling down on his neck. He pulled out of her, and collapsed on the bed next to her. He grabbed the blankets that were now wadded up at the end of the bed, and pulled them over their bodies. Her head rested on his chest, both of them breathing heavily, his fingers combing through her hair.
"You alright?" Colby asked, feeling hers and his breathing calming.
"Yeah," She replied, tilting her head back, meeting his eyes with her own. She saw the doubt in his eyes, "I'm perfect, Colby,"
"You'd let me know if anything was wrong, right?"
She nodded, running her fingers through the small amount of hair on his chest. They laid in silence for several moments before Colby noticed her breathing getting uneven again. He didn't think anything of it until he felt a drop of water on his chest.
"Hey," Colby said, sweetly, seeing her face turn up to his, and the tears in her eyes and a few streaming down her face. He gently brushed his thumb against her cheek, "What's wrong?"
"I don't want you to leave," Mallory admitted, closing her eyes and enjoying his company.
Hearing the words come out of her mouth almost broke his heart; he slowly sat up and drew her into his arms.
"It's gonna be alright," He soothed her, running his hand up and down her back, and into her hair.
He didn't know how bad she wanted to believe him, but she just couldn't. She buried her face in his chest, and shivered.
"You feeling a little better?" He asked.
"Yeah, I guess," She said, "A little cold,"
"I can fix cold," He replied smiling, grabbing a fleece blanket from the end of the bed. He pulled it over her body, along with the other blankets on his bed, and wrapped her in his arms.
She snuggled in close to his body, and pulled the blankets up to her chin. She rested her arms across his waist, and put one of her legs in between his, rubbing her foot along his calf.
"I don't want this to end," Mallory said, closing her eyes, gently kissing his chest.
"I don't want it to, either," Colby admitted, running his fingers through her hair again.
"Then don't," She pleaded, looking at him, desperation transparent in her eyes, she intertwined her fingers with his, "Stay here, with me,"
"You know I have to go tomorrow," Colby reasoned, gently squeezing her hand, "There's no getting around it,"
"I know, but I have you right now," Mallory replied, "Let's not think about tomorrow, until we have to,"
"Alright, all that matters is right now,"
She nodded weakly against his chest, she could feel a gentle midnight breeze coming through his window that was cracked open. Just then they both heard the front door open, and shut once again.
"Colby, you still awake?" His mother called from downstairs; even know she knew that he was.
"Yeah, mom," He called.
"Crap," Mallory said, frantically sitting up and looking around, although she wasn't exactly sure for what.
"Hey, calm down, it's gonna be all right," He said, calmingly, sitting up behind her, and wrapping his strong arms around her fragile body.
They could both hear his mother coming up the stairs.
She walked up to his door, and knocked, "Can I come in, sweetheart?"
"Um, I'm really trying to get some sleep, Mom," He replied, hopefully, wrapping his arms even tighter around Mallory.
"Alright, honey, I'll let you get some sleep, let me know if you need anything," She said, and they both heard her walk away.
Mallory let out a breath that she didn't notice that she'd been holding.
"That was close," She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
He nodded, and rested his head on her shoulder, his arms still tightly wrapped around her body. Mallory reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He slowly began running his hands up and down her back. He tilted his head up, and gently connected his lips with hers. It was gentle and passionate and when he pulled away he rested his forehead against hers.
"I just want you to know," He whispered, gently running his fingers through her hair, "I love you, Mallory Amber Johnson,"
She was taken aback by his statement at first, her hands rested against his chest, "I love you, too, Colby Ashton Granger,"