04 A Killing Touch (14 page)

Aidan reached to his back, unholstered his gun and slid it beneath her pillow. She hesitated a moment, reminded of the stark reality of why she was in the hospital. And why he’d refused to leave her side. He was hunting a killer. She’d captured that killer’s attention. He expected her to be targeted again.

“Lana.” Aidan tenderly kissed her mouth. First one corner. “You’re not a job.” Then the other. “I want to be with you.”

She stared into the truth rippling from his eyes. She didn’t doubt the time would come for him to walk away. When casual sex turned to commitment he’d leave, because that’s where their ultimate goals differed. She wanted marriage and kids. He lived for the FBI, and after growing up with her father, seeing the force of his dedication, she wasn’t going to marry a man like that. Future probabilities aside, she didn’t doubt Aidan’s sincerity of the moment. Neither did she waste any of it.

“I know.” She returned his kisses and shrugged. “Just had a passing pause.”

To prove that she was still with him, she popped loose the button of his pants. He needed no other encouragement to unzip. Clearly determined to surprise her again, he turned her to her side so she was facing away from him and they were both facing the door. She thought he just wanted to untie the hospital gown. She thought wrong.

Rather than strip her and go for quick sex, Aidan released the tie at her neck. Folding the thin fabric back, he caressed her neck and shoulders and upper back. Using his mouth and hands, he coated her with desire as warm and thick as if he’d spread candle wax over her.

Her muscles turned to jelly.

Her core tightened.

He untied the next set of strings.

Lana’s scalp tingled with the goose pimples she was sure were dancing along her spine. Just as he’d slowly loved her upper back he loved her mid back. The brushes of his fingers and lips along her spine were torments of anticipation. Each caress sped her blood, heightened her temperature.

Full darkness engulfed her as her eyes drifted closed, her lids suddenly too heavy with desire to stay open. She arched into him, begging with her body. He maintained his sedate pace, slowly driving her higher and higher as he edged closer to the next strap.

He surprised her again when rather than untying it as he had the others, he slid his tongue beneath the fabric and along her skin until he’d lifted the strap’s end. With the tip pinched between his teeth, he tugged.

His fingers split the gown fully open while his mouth continued its exploration. Her hips jerked up and down, and her thighs rubbed against each other with each flexing pulse. Thirst and hunger coiled in her fevered muscles.

“Aidan.”

“I know, Lana.” He stretched out behind her, pulling her back to his front. His erection nestled intimately against her. If anyone walked in they would know what was going on, but they wouldn’t see anything. Aidan’s protective streak excited her. Tingling all over, quivering inside, she rubbed against him.

Allowing aggression to lead, Aidan lifted her top leg and dropped it on his. With her spread for him, he grabbed her hips in a bruising grip and drove into her. Grunting lowly, he pumped. In and out. Over and over. Hard then harder. His hands held her still while his hips set the momentum.

Heat centered in her lower back, spiraling from her spine in a slow spread until she was consumed. The rhythmic glide of Aidan deep in her core, striking the heart of passion with each thrust, coalesced into a ball of fire. Aidan thrust again, this time bending over and placing a hot kiss on her back. The warmth spread through her while he held her body locked against his as orgasm gripped them.

Lana buried her face in the pillow and released the groan rolling from the depths of her chest. Whatever had Aidan staying at her side, his job or personal desire, she would enjoy it while it lasted.

Chapter Nine

“My legs aren’t broken, Aidan.”

“Nope.”

“I can walk.” Lana crossed her arms and huffed. Her only success at the moment was to push her breasts closer to the top of her blouse, giving him an enhanced view of her cleavage as he rolled her wheelchair toward the hospital exit.

“Sorry, babe. Hospital policy is that you get wheeled to the exit.”

“I had an allergic reaction. Nothing was broken.”

“An allergic reaction that could’ve killed you.” He rubbed his thumb briefly against her neck, realizing it was another of many quick touches he’d stolen since bringing her into the hospital. Even when her parents had come back with a change of clothes and her house keys he’d struggled to distance himself. “You’ll follow procedure a little longer.”

“The hospital’s or yours?”

“You don’t miss a beat.”

“Answer the question.”

“Both.” His thumb rubbed circles on her shoulder. “I promised to keep you safe. Besides, we need to figure out how you came to the killer’s attention.”

“I’m not even out of the hospital and your mind is back on the case.”

“As if I could forget what landed you here.” He slowed at the automatic doors, waiting for them to fully open. Just outside, Tyler leaned against his car while Liam leaned against Aidan’s.

“Did you have to call your team?”

“I needed my car, so I called my brother.”

“It’s never that easy with you,” she argued, but her words lacked spirit.

He wasn’t sure if she had relinquished some control or if she was simply waiting until they didn’t have an audience. Neither scenario held promise, but he’d bet on the latter. Shoving aside the worry, he rolled her outside and engaged the brakes on the wheelchair.

With the flair of a professional driver, Liam opened the passenger side door of Aidan’s car. When he extended a hand for her and she accepted it with a smile, an unfamiliar anger flashed in Aidan. She held his brother’s hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and rather than offer arguments or smart remarks, she smiled and thanked him sweetly as she slipped into the seat.

Taking over for Liam, Aidan closed the door himself and turned to round the car. Liam stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Aidan turned his head to meet eyes identical to his. “What?”

“We found fingerprints on her door. When we find a suspect we’ll have them to compare.”

“Great.”

“There was also a reporter here when we arrived. Rose Stevens.” The left side of Liam’s lip snarled up. “She mistook me for you.”

“You get anything out of her?”

“Said she heard there’d been an attack. That it was similar to the West Little Havana homeless woman.”

“As usual she’s doing a piss poor job of checking her facts.”

“Because no one will talk to her.”

“Did you?”

“Only to tell her I didn’t know anything about a homeless woman in West Little Havana or an attack related to her.” Liam smiled. “Both statements are technically true.”

“Right.” Aidan moved to round the car.

“Hey.” Liam stopped him again.

“What?”

Liam jerked his head toward Lana waiting in the car. “Be nice. She cares more than she lets on.”

Aidan turned fully toward Liam and stepped closer. “I didn’t realize she needed you to speak for her. Or that you were more concerned with her than your own brother.”

“You know better than that. And if you’d open your eyes to really look at her, you’d see how vulnerable she is right now.”

“Ha.” Aidan laughed the idea off. “Lana Quinn and vulnerable don’t coexist in the same stratosphere, let alone the same moment. Now, I’m taking her home, and we’re all getting back to work on this case.”

“All of us?” Liam jerked his head toward Lana who sat watching them from the front seat. “Or is it just you from this point?”

“I know better than to go it alone, but yes, she’s going to have a less involved role.”

He shouldn’t be having this conversation with Liam. That he was, that his brother felt the need to call him out on something, meant Aidan was getting too close. Damn if this didn’t happen every time a case involved Lana. She got under his skin and he lost objectivity. It was precisely why he’d avoided her since the Valentine’s Day case. The woman pushed him to a dangerous edge.

“She’s not going to take that announcement well.”

No shit.
“I’m being watched on this one. Her feelings can’t be a priority.” Can’t. He’d said can’t instead of aren’t. Another sign of his conflict, because part of him wanted to put her first.

“Watched? By who?”

“Someone I need to worry about.”

Liam’s brow knotted with curiosity, but rather than press for answers he stepped back with his hands up in surrender. “Call when you need us.”

Aidan nodded then moved to the driver’s side. The lull in the hospital had lured him into a false comfort zone. For a brief time he’d forgotten why he shouldn’t be with Lana. He’d allowed himself to forget who she was and what she did for a living. He’d thought more about her recovery and how she made him feel.

That he had been content thinking about her, worrying about her, staying at her side rather than chasing down leads should bother him. It should worry him that he hadn’t missed being with his team to work the case and be the one to find the killer. The goal was still there, but the identity he gained from his job wasn’t as clear-cut as it had been before this case. Before allowing himself to enjoy Lana.

“Back to life. Back to reality.”

“What?” Aidan asked. He’d gone into his thoughts and missed what Lana said.

“Nothing. Just telling myself it’s time to refocus on my story.” She faced the window and sniffed quietly. Her hand, with only traces of a rash left, lifted as if to wipe away a tear.

His chest compressed, squeezing his heart. The idea that he’d somehow done something to make her cry…

She’s vulnerable right now.

He’d laughed at Liam’s warning. Or maybe he’d laughed at the idea of Lana’s strength being shakable. It didn’t matter. For all he knew she was teary over the idea of losing time on the story. Yeah. That had to be it. They both needed to get back to work.

“Speaking of the story, what were you working on yesterday?” How could it only have been yesterday evening that she’d been attacked? It seemed like so much more time had passed. “Who did you talk to? Where did you go?”

“Are you asking so you can find another way to shut me down?”

The return of her contention restored his balance. This Lana he knew how to deal with. He felt more himself with the hard-edged woman bracing for a fight. “I’m asking so I can figure out how you landed your ass in the killer’s crosshairs.”

“I wish I could trust that, Aidan, but you have this habit of taking small bits of information and finding ways to use them against me.”

“I already told you the story would be yours if you let us work it first.”

“No, actually. You never agreed to give me everything I’ll need for a full story.”

“Well, the story is yours. You don’t have to worry about us talking to another reporter.”

“Ah.” She turned in her seat to face him fully. Any hints of vulnerability had vanished. “A carefully worded response that still doesn’t offer a guarantee you’ll share information.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Honesty.” She didn’t hesitate in answering or continuing. “And a little trust. You seem to handle…this…” She waved her hand between them before dropping it back to her lap. “This whatever it is we have when we’re not talking about the story. You change, though, the instant you might have to really trust me.”

“Change?”

“You shut down.” She shook her head. “Hell, I’d have thought if you were going to shut down you would have done it after meeting my father. I actually expected you to draw a clichéd line in the sand that wasn’t to be crossed.”

“Should have,” he muttered.

“Instead, you shared the bed with me, held me and then made love to me.”

He strangled the steering wheel as arousal roared through his body. In his ears. It took no more than a verbal reminder of their morning in her hospital bed to have him yearning for more. To have him wanting another chance to explore her curves, allowing his senses and fingers to lead the way in darkness.

“Shouldn’t have.” He instantly wished he could recall the muttered words. They hadn’t been what he meant. He meant them, just not the way she would take it.

“Really?” She leaned against the door and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “So what was the biggest mistake? Holding me or having sex with me? Or has everything we’ve done and shared been one giant ball of
shouldn’t have
?”

Holding you was the biggest mistake. Holding you and caring.
“Lana, you’re misunderstanding.”

“I don’t think I am.” She unfolded her arms and relaxed her entire approach as they pulled up to her apartment complex. “I will, however, make this very easy for you.”

He studied her cautiously, waiting for a word bomb to detonate.

“I’ll play along with the dictates you no doubt intend to make. I’ll accept that you’re likely to report back to my father for the sake of keeping your job. I’ll even keep you up to date on what I’m doing in regards to the story.”