ATF Alternate Universe
The men had been watching her building the moment Interpol had stumbled across the information that the Fox had a permanent address and appeared as if she was going to settle in Denver. The task force that had been sent to retrieve the suspect knew they had a very narrow margin of time in which to operate. Their presence in the United States was completely legal and snatching a suspect who had committed no crime in this country could be interpreted as an attack upon the sovereignty of US soil.Unfortunately, the Fox had created many enemies in Europe who wanted her in custody one way or another. Thus when inquiries had been made regarding the nature La Renarde Rousse from the ATF office in Denver, Interpol had converged upon the town quickly, monitoring the movements of the person who had made the inquiry for some time until that surveillance had led them to one name.
Julia Pemberton.
Until that point, they had a partial identification but not a name to which they could attach the face. However, with the name Julia Pemberton, they were able to glean far more than that, they were able to place the woman in all the cities during the time of the robberies committed in Europe through customs records and visa permits issued. While it was hardly enough evidence to justify an order for extradition, it was enough to convince Interpol, they had their woman and allow them the power to take extraordinary measures to bring her to justice.
By the time the Fox had returned to her penthouse apartment, preparations had been made by the men who had been keeping her under close surveillance had made all the necessary preparations to have her taken out of the country, back to Europe.
Where justice would be served at last.
+ + + + + + +
That will teach him to mess with me, Julia smiled as she returned home after her very successful lunch time meeting with Messrs. Larabee and Standish respectively. Although she had felt slightly uncomfortable about using Mary's relationship with the leader of Team 7, she knew that part of her motivation to let Mary know just how much the man felt about her was so that Mary would address how she felt. Julia did not have many friends in her life but Mary Travis meant something to her. For the past two years, Mary had lived in a something of a vacuum, afraid of reaching out because she would get hurt if she were to lose them, like she had lost Stephen.
By spilling the beans about what Chris had said about Gerard, whose only motivation could have been to ward off a potential suitor for Mary's hand, neither would be able to deny how they felt each other, no matter how stubborn they both were. No doubt, Mary would call her later with all the details but for the moment, she had enjoyed seeing Ezra squirm. Of course he would be mad but after setting her up at the museum, Julia had a feeling his anger would not last for very long.
She entered the main lobby of her penthouse, greeting the doorman who tipped his hat at her and opened the door as she entered the building. Making her way across the marble floor before the elevators, she did not have long to wait until the doors slid open. Stepping inside, Julia wondered if the card she had left on Ezra's windshield would bring him here. After all, now that she was a so-called private citizen, not to mention a business owner, there was no reason to keep her identity a secret from him.
A part of her still could not believe the changes she had made in her existence for him but Julia unlike Mary did not have trouble with intimacy once she made the decision to let Ezra into her life. She loved him. She had no idea what that would mean to her future but for the moment, knowing that she could feel this way about someone was a nice feeling indeed. The elevator opened at the very top of the building and Julia felt grateful to be home. Strange how she had only been in the place for a few days and was now referring to it as her permanent abode.
Opening the door, she stepped into the front hall and knew immediately something was wrong. She could not explain how she knew only that she relied upon this instinct with unquestioning faith because it had saved her life on more than occasion. Instead of retreating, she continued up the hallway, trying to imagine how anyone could break into a penthouse apartment, beside herself that is. Fortunately, she left nothing on the premises incriminating that could lead to any legal complications. After all her encounters with the ATF lately, Julia did not believe in taking chances with her freedom. She had a clean slate in the States and she intended her record to remain that way.
She had no sooner reached the mouth of the hallway when suddenly; she heard a sound she could not immediately identify. It was like an explosion of gases but it was not a gun. There was no time to ponder what it was because as soon as she felt it hit her leg, her question was more or less answered. The tranquilliser dart penetrated the fleshy part of her thigh, digging straight into her skin and seeping its poison into her blood.
"Damn!" She let out a small cry of pain as she felt the dart do its work.
Three men emerged from separate corners of her house. She started to become disorientated almost immediately, with a fog descending over her brain that robbed her of any ability to focus. They were dressed in black and converged upon her like a pack of dogs, about to tear their prey to pieces. As the first one reached her, Julia threw a flying kick in his face, knowing that she had to get out of here immediately. She had no idea who these men were but they obviously came prepared because they had chosen to drug her first, aware that she would never allow them to take her otherwise. The man staggered backwards but even she knew the delivery of the kick was sloppy and he would recover quickly. With anguish and a sudden burst of fear, Julia did the only thing she could.
She ran.
She did not even reach the door. One of the men slammed into her in a full body tackle that knocked her off her feet. Her head hit the marble floor hard and once again, she felt the same wave of nausea and disorientation as the drug started to take full effect.
"I've got her!" The one who was pinning her down cried out to his companions.
Their footsteps seemed to pound loudly in her head when they ran towards her. Julia blinked trying to concentrate but she could not commander her limber to cooperate. However, she had enough presence of mind to know that the one who had spoken was doing so in a French accent.
"Who the hell are you guys?" She demanded weakly as the amber trapping her limbs started to move to her brain.
"Interpol." One of them answered. "You are going to Paris for trial, La Renarde Rousse."
"Paris?" Julia gasped out loud because she helpless like this and could do nothing to stop them. "You can't do this!" She shouted with whatever strength she had left and there was not much. "I haven't done anything in this country! You're kidnapping me!"
"By the time you are awake," the man looked at her with a triumphant smile as the black started to blanket everything around her. "It will not be a problem."
+ + + + + + +
Ezra had found the card on the windshield of his jaguar after he had left the ATF building, vowing never to return or at least, until Chris Larabee stopped talking to him with a gun in his hand. Ezra was still unable to believe what he had walked into in Chris' office and wondered if he was ever going to live down the embarrassment of seeing Mary Travis and Chris Larabee in a such a truly compromising position.
Well at least they were not arguing any more.
Ezra decided to make a prudent departure after interrupting Chris and Mary who were well on their way to sorting their differences before his sudden arrival. The leader of Team 7 was in the filthiest mood in creation following his exchange with Mary and her subsequent departure in the face of what had happened between them. While Ezra had offered a wealth of apology, it did not change things and he came to the quick conclusion that the most sensible thing to do at this time was to make himself scarce.
Just when he thought the day could not get any worse; he saw Julia's card under his windshield wiper, giving him the details of her new address. Even though he was still very annoyed by what she had done, Ezra could not blame her for wanting revenge; after all he had set her up at the museum. Worst yet, he had done that after she had saved him from Bertenelli's goons. Despite the situation she had ignited with Chris Larabee, Ezra was of the feeling that he was the one who behaved improperly.
Pulling up the jaguar against the kerb, he was about to make his way towards the building when a man emerged carrying a rolled up carpet with two others in his company. Judging from their conversation as Ezra headed towards the front door, he gathered they were French. While his French was rusty and not well learned mostly because he and Mademoiselle Pascal, his tutor, were doing more than conjugating verbs during their lessons together. However, as they walked past, he heard them mention a word that froze him in his tracks and immediately halted his progress to the front door of the penthouse building.
La Renarde Rousse
Ezra continued to walk towards the doorway so as not to arouse suspicion, reaching into his cell phone as they rounded the corner, no doubt heading toward a vehicle parked in the parking lot. No sooner than they slipped out of sight, Ezra spun on his heels and ran towards his Jaguar once more. He climbed into the vehicle and started dialling, just as he saw a white van pull out of the visitor's parking lot with one of the men he had seen earlier behind the wheel. Accustomed to tailing cars without being noticed, Ezra immediately revved up the engine of the British piece of engineering and began following it as it pulled out onto the main street.
"Tanner." The sharpshooter's voice spoke through his cell phone.
"Mr Tanner," Ezra spoke quickly. "I need help. Someone is attempting to kidnap Julia Pemberton."
"And this is bad how?" Vin's voice returned sarcastically. Ezra supposed he could not blame the man for his ambivalence, Julia had not made many friends at the ATF since coming into their lives, particularly after today.
"Vin," Ezra took a deep breath. "I think Interpol or some European law enforcement agency has come for her. They're attempting to remove her from this country illegally. Unless extradition procedures have changed radically, I do not believe the process involves taking away the suspect disguised as a Persian rug. Please," Ezra made an impassioned plea to the sharpshooter with more emotion than he liked to reveal and hoped it was enough. "I cannot do this by myself. I require your assistance."
"You really like this girl don't you?" Vin said after a momentary pause.
"Yes I do." He confessed keeping the van in close sight as it took the turn onto the highway. "Enough to shoot someone in the but."
"Okay, first up," Vin started to grumble. "I did not shoot you in the ass, it was a misfire and secondly, that is not the way to get me to help you."
"Vin..." Ezra started to get exasperated.
"All right," thesharp shooter groaned reluctantly. "What do you want me to do?"
+ + + + + + +
Once the van took the turn off to the Anderson airfield, Ezra had a rough idea of what was happening. If the kidnappers intended taking Julia out of the country, they would not be able to utilise conventional air carriers that would require passengers to go through customs. She was being taken out of the country illegally which mean they must have had a private jet waiting at the airstrip.
By the time the van arrived at its destination, local police had surrounded the airfield and the jet was going nowhere. Vin Tanner had notified the FBI of the situation and the men, who refused to name from what agency they had been despatched, were soon taken into custody. For Vin's help, Ezra promised never to mention the incident where he was shot in the rear ever again.
For saving Julia, they were finally even.
+ + + + + + +
Julia opened her eyes, expecting to find herself in a French jail, instead she found herself in her bed.
She still felt a little groggy and as she sat up in dim light of the room, she noticed that Ezra was lying beneath a blanket, on the sofa within the room, fast asleep. For a moment, she tried to understand what had happened. She remembered the men in her house and instinctively searched the place where the tranquilliser had hit, trying to make certain she had not dreamed everything, when she saw that tender flesh where the dart had penetrated her skin. Her confusion was rife but it was good to see Ezra nonetheless.
"Julia?" Ezra called out, roused from his sleep by her movements in bed. "Are you all right?" He asked, his face etched with concern.
"Yes," she nodded, still somewhat confused. "What happened?"
"I manage to stop those men from taking you out of the country," he said sitting up, keeping the blanket around himself because he was not so presumptuous to take advantage of the just because they had a history together. "They were Interpol."
"They said so," she remarked rubbing the bridge of her nose before her eyes met his. "Thank you Ezra. It would be unfortunate if they had taken me back to Europe."
"It was my pleasure." He smiled. "After saving my life, it was the least that I could do."
"Is that all?" Julia replied, disappointed if repaying a debt had been his only motivation.
"You know better than that." Ezra said softly, staring into her eyes so she could see just how much she meant to him, from the moment of their first meeting.
Julia smiled at him, comprehending his feelings completely because she felt the same before disappearing under the covers for a few seconds. Removing the nightdress she assumed he had put on her when he had brought her home, Julia dropped the flimsy piece of material to the carpeted floor and pulled the covers back in clear invitation for him to join her.
"Come on," she urged.
Ezra found himself grinning as he came forward and lowered himself next to her on the bed, feeling his body mould into place beside her like he was always meant to be there. He lowered his mouth towards hers in the first kiss he had given her and found that she responded immediately, her lips parting slightly as an invitation for his tongue to enter. Ezra took advantage of that offer most ardently, gently tasting her and savouring the sweetness of her lips before engaging her tongue in that most ancient dance of passion. Kissing her was everything that he remembered and as his mouth became more demanding, he moved himself on top of her soft body and felt a surge of arousal when she hooked a leg over his and began stroking his calf lightly.
Era's hands cupped her face, delighting in the feel of her soft skin as he took charge of her mouth, darting his tongue in and out of the moist recess, sucking her lower lip past his and bombarding her with the richness of a truly sensual kiss. He could feel Julia pushing up against him with tightening need, her legs splayed out as he moved to a more comfortable position in between them. She ground her pelvis against his and sent a surge of fire straight into his groin as his cock started to harden with desire. Her hands move to his back, gliding up the smooth skin, coming to a halt at his briefs, before penetrating the waist band to explore the curved flesh beneath.
Ezra closed his eyes at the sensual movements of her palm against his skin that seemed to bring alive every nerve in his body. He pulled away from her mouth and looked into her emerald eyes, basking in the hunger he saw there. Ezra started kissing her neck, drawing a slow moan from her lips as he moved down the white skin, tracing a line of seduction down her collarbone and then to her cleavage. He looked at the round suppleness of her breasts, at the nipples that had contracted in a rosy colour that marked her arousal and smiled when he kissed the points gently and brought her hand immediately to his hair to urge him further.
Ezra licked one tight plateau and drew a soft cry of pleasure from her. His tongue tingled touching the erect point and felt another gush of sensation rushing to his cock. He could feel its effect shuddering through her body as he lowered his mouth to it and swirled the tip of his tongue against the rough flesh. Her body was arching against him, her thighs spreading wider until he could feel his hard length pressing into the soft heat between her legs. She was taunting him to make his do what she wanted but Ezra was not about to waste the moment. He continued to tease her with his tongue until she was beside herself.
"Please..." she uttered a frustrated whimper.
Hearing that plea broke his resolve. Ezra opened his mouth and took her nipple in one deep breath, sucking the node of flesh deep past his teeth and forcing a cry of pleasure to escape her as her hands began clawing at his back, through his hair, until she was completely his creature. His hand pulled hers away and he was able to pin them both above her head, arching her back and tightening the beautiful covering of flesh on her body. Without warning, he thrust his fingers between her legs and found his way inside her.
Julia was very wet and there was almost no resistance when he nudged past her folds and pressed the insides of her moist cavern with his finger. The surge of wet that came from that one gesture almost made him come undone. She bucked against him hard, impaling herself on his hand as the sensation ripped through her. Julia wanted to touch him but Ezra kept his grip around her hands and responded only by sucking her nipple deeper into his mouth in rhythm with his questing fingers.
"Oh god, Ezra." She started to groan as he worked on her relentlessly, determined to bring pleasure to her because he had waited so long for this moment. He could feel her becoming more wanton, just by the way her thighs were encircling his body, rubbing up and down and sensitising his skin to the point of madness. Ezra could not believe how hard she made him; he was starting to pant from the sheer need to bury himself deep within her.
"Julia," he whispered, lowering his mouth to her ear as the savage hunger started to overtake him. "I am going to fuck you until you scream." He said hoarsely.
"Oh god yes!" She groaned and arched harder against him only to have another digit forced inside her wetness, pressing against the moist walls within while his thumb found an even more sensitive spot and gently caressed the tiny pearl of flesh that forced her immediate surrender. She let out a soft cry as Ezra started massaging it, filling her with an aching need she could barely contain by the gasps she was uttering, until her body was one languid movement of sensuous flesh beneath him.
Oh dear god, Ezra though to himself feeling her heat as she rode his hand, her hips pushing back and forth, driving herself harder against his cock and then pulling back, performing sweet torture even though she had no idea she was doing it. He continued to lavish her breast with his mouth, while at the same time renewing his devastating manipulation of her erect centre with his fingers until she was so moist that he could hardly stand to be away from her for any longer. Although it was a monumental effort to do so, Ezra managed to keep from entering her there and then because he wanted her to be pleasured the way she had done to him at his apartment.
Ezra continued to tease the tiny nod of flesh, keeping her hands pinned while he nursed on her nipples and made her completely oblivious to everything but what he as doing to her. A fine sheen of perspiration had formed on her body, making the sensations all the more acute as he nibbled and sucked on the tips of her nipples until she was so mindless with pleasure that her eyes had clamped shut and her head thrown back against the pillow.
"Please Ezra," she opened her eyes suddenly and looked at him with nothing less than naked lust. "I want you inside me now. Please, I can't wait...." she could not continue but her tone was clear enough. She enjoyed having someone else in control, that much he knew. For a woman so self assured, there was one thing in life where she wanted to be dominated and Ezra's hunger was for her was such that he was happy to comply. He wanted to be brutal; he wanted to indulge in his utmost fantasies about her.
Giving her no warning, he withdrew and flipped her onto her stomach roughly. She glanced over her shoulder through a tangle of hair and almost uttered a scream when she felt him grab her hips and push his way into her, giving her no quarter for warning, that she needed it. He filled her so completely that Julia could do nothing but hold still as she felt the incredible sensation of his cock entering her brutally. She groaned and delighted in the sensation of every inch of him being driven into her. By the time he was all the way in, Julia was so aroused that she hardly knew where she was. His hand dug into her head and held cheek pressed against the pillow.
"Is that how you like it, my dear Julia?" He grunted as he started thrusting into her hard, his hand holding her hips against his as he ground his pelvis into her round derriere. He illustrated the point by slamming inside her so forcefully he felt an obstruction of flesh at the end of her passage and drew another cry from her.
"Yes!" She almost sobbed. "Oh please, don't stop!"
Ezra had to bit down to maintain his control because he was never so out of control in his life. He wanted to plunder her body, to ravage it with a thousand pleasures as he began thrusting into her as hard as he could. Holding her head down with one hand as the other grabbed firm hold of her hip; he began pumping into her with hard, powerful strokes. Each time he felt the barrier at the end of her, she cried out in pain and pleasure, he could not say for sure, aware only that she begged him not to stop.
Ezra had never felt so aroused. His cock was so hard that it must surely be hurting her but when he even considered slowing down, he would hear her cry for him not to. Each whimper from those luscious lips, begging him not to stop had more power over him that all the sensation in the world. Later on, their lovemaking would be somewhat sedate in contrast to this experience but for now, they were both aware of what each other needed, had needed since they had first laid eyes upon each other. Ezra had never loved a woman as much as he loved Julia Pemberton and his need for her was like a fever.
He rode her hard; pumping her with such intense rhythm that all sense was being driven from him. There was nothing gentleman about this but he hardly cared. His body was covered in sweat and all he could feel was her nubile flesh preparing him for the most intense orgasm he had ever experienced in his life. The roar of pleasure began to fill his ears, with blooding rushing to his head as the pull in his groin became more intense and the ecstasy that was whispering at him, was becoming a scream that forced him to keep going. It came to a point when he no longer had any control left. The next thing he knew he was pulling her hips against him with both hands, impaling her with such relentless rhythm that she had thrown her head back and filled his eyes with a cloak of red against the alabaster skin of her back.
She was tensing with almost animal like lust, her body arching as her climax started coming over her. Julia was crying out with complete abandon, begging him to go faster and harder and in his efforts to comply, pushed her over the brink completely. She dropped her head violently, a cascade of auburn hair tossing about as she began her descent. Her muscles contracted in response and with that final tension strangled his cock with a parting gift of absolute pleasure that dragged him over the edge with her.
"Oh good Lord Julia!" He grunted out loud as he felt it explode out of him, filling his eyes with colour as he spurted his juices deep into her crevices, still pumping into her body as he felt himself drain completely. He kept pushing because his mind was not ready to let go of the ecstasy that had pleasured his body so spectacularly.
When he was finally done, he collapsed on top of her, feeling his sweat mingling with her own as they both lay in the tangle of sheets, breathing hard.
"Oh my god Agent Standish," she said out of breath. "Do they teach you this at the ATF?"
Ezra let out a soft chuckle through his exhaustion. "Yes," he nodded slowly. "Right after weapons training. The oral exams are the hardest."
"I look forward to seeing what else you learned." She giggled as he covered the skin of her back in gentle kisses.
"Miss Pemberton," Ezra asked after a moment. "Do you think we will ever have a normal relationship?"
"What's normal?" She looked at him through the mane of red hair over her shoulder. "Just be grateful I'm not kicking your ass any more." She teased.
"You turn a lovely phrase." He said sliding into a more comfortable position next to her.
"Mr Standish," she rolled onto her side so that she could look into his eyes. "I love you. Is that better?"
"Much," he replied and then added. "I have a feeling I am going to regret this, but I must say that I love you too." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her, once again becoming lost in the incredible sensation of her lips, thinking to himself that there worse things in life than catching a tiger by the tail.
You could catch a fox.
THE END
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