Cursed (13 page)

     “We haven’t done
anything...yet.”

     “We both should walk
away right now. You’re after my brother.” She tried to put emphasis and
conviction into her words but the yearning she felt deep inside softened the
edges in her voice. One of them needed to be sensible. “You think he committed
that robbery but he didn’t and I—”

     He laid two fingers
against her lips. “Shh, let’s forget for just a minute that I’m a detective and
you’re the sister of my number one suspect.” He nudged the tip of his index
finger inside her lower lip, removed it and sucked the tip of his finger. “I
want this kiss as much as you do.”

     Hope shook her head
very slowly.

     He grinned. A shiver
raced down her spine. “You’re a terrible liar, Hope.” He stepped closer until
mere inches separated them and wrapped his fingers around her neck. Her skin
tingled with awareness as a vital sensation of alluring risk scampered through
her blood.

     Keeping his gaze on
hers he leaned forward, his breath blowing warm over her right cheek, his scent
consuming her senses making them spin. With the lightest nip from his lips, he
nibbled snowflakes from her cheek. The touch of his lips sent a stream of heat
down her neck to engulf her breasts. Her nipples hardened immediately, pressing
against her bra as if asking for release. He ate more snowflakes from her cheek
with just the slightest stroke of his tongue. Nick glided his lips over her jaw
toward her ear. He placed an open mouthed kiss directly beneath her earlobe.

     She closed her eyes,
letting her head fall back and giving him better access. More. She wanted more.
She needed more. Now.

     Slowly, he rubbed
his tongue over the lobe before sucking it into his mouth. A throb of desire
sent ribbons of want wrapping around her body and settling deep inside her
core.

Without taking his lips from her skin, he
trailed kisses over her right cheek to the corner of her mouth and licked. Quickly,
Hope turned her head desperate to feel his lips on hers, but at the last
second, he pulled back so their mouths barely grazed each other.

     “Not yet.” With
sensual precision, he kissed the snow from her left cheek and gave her other
ear the same thorough attention. He removed his hand where their fingers laced
together and loosened the belt on her coat.

     His warmth lingered
on her skin and it felt as though he was still holding her hand. A rush of wind
swept briefly around her body but he slid one arm around her waist, pulling her
snug against him, warming her and chasing away the cold. They touched from
chest to toes, their thighs, their hips. His arousal pressed hard and urgent
through the fabric of her slacks and nudged her femininity. She grew wet,
wanting him closer.

     With his other hand,
he tunneled his fingers through her hair tilting her face up to his. She looked
up into the infinite gray of his eyes and felt some unnamed emotional piece to
a puzzle fall into place.

     His gaze cruised
over her face before settling on her mouth. He lowered his mouth within a
fraction of her own. “Last chance.”

     As he whispered the
words, his lips touched hers in a feathery caress. She sucked in a breath right
before his mouth took hers in a bone-melting kiss. This was no tentative
sampling; he practically swallowed her whole. Nick pushed his tongue past her
lips and into her mouth.

     Their tongues
collided in a hunger-filled duel while his flavor filled her like heady wine.
He tasted of chocolate and a trace of something uniquely his own. She drank
from his lips even as his mouth devoured hers, ravishing every secret recess.
His hair felt soft, the strands tickling the skin between her fingers.

     She lowered her
hands to his chest, her fingers groping beneath the edges of his jacket for the
buttons on his shirt. Suddenly, she felt she would die if she couldn’t feel his
skin beneath her fingers. God, she wanted more, all of him, naked and wanting,
his body locked inside hers—”

     “Hope?”

     At the sound of the
unexpected voice, Hope and Nick broke apart. They jerked their heads around at
the same time.  Cullinan stood a few feet away. “I thought that was you.”
His probing gaze shifted to Nick, then back to Hope.

     Embarrassment and
guilt flooded through her. She tried to hastily pull the edges of her coat
together, only Nick’s arm still encircled her waist. She lowered her hand,
clasped her fingers around his arm and pulled. It was like trying to move granite.
She looked at him. He gazed back at her for a moment telling her with his eyes
he did not intend to let her go just yet.

     Her hands shook not
with nervousness but the flood of desire racing through her blood. She licked
her lips tingling from Nick’s kisses and attempted to muster some dignity.
“Cullinan, it’s not what you think. We were just—that is, we—”

     Cullinan laughed
without humor. “Give me a break. Another minute and you’d need to get a room.”

     Hope blushed at her
brother’s words but before she could say anything, he headed toward the door of
her apartment building. “We have to talk. I’ll see you inside.”

     She listened to the
beep of the security system as he slipped in his card releasing the lock on the
door. In a moment, the door closed with a click. Nick pulled his arm from
around her waist.

     Hope slumped against
the side of the building. “Why didn’t you let me go?”

     “I refuse to act
like a kid who’s just been caught sneaking a smoke by the school principal or
in this case your brother.”

     She raked a hand
through her hair. “We could have covered it up. I could have explained it away
as—”

     Nick laughed and
grasped her chin, drawing her gaze to his. “Your skin is scented with arousal,
your lips are bright pink and puffy from my kisses and your eyes gleam with
unfulfilled desire. Which adds up to ‘Take off your clothes and fuck me’...What
part were you planning to cover up?”

     Hope jerked her chin
from his hold and pulled her coat tightly together. She averted her gaze, not
wanting to look at him for fear he would see the truth. She didn’t really want
to explain anything because she enjoyed every damn minute of it. “We shouldn’t
have done that.”

     Nick shrugged,
pursing his lips. “No, we shouldn’t have, but I think you’ll agree it was
inevitable. Now that we have—”

     “We don’t need to do
it again.” She stepped around Nick and headed for the door.

     “Hope.”

     She stopped at the
sound of his voice and looked at him over her shoulder.

     He stood with his
legs planted slightly apart, his hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks.
He looked impossibly handsome standing in the snow with his hair mussed from
her fingers, his gray eyes shining with unsatisfied lust. “I admit we crossed
the line—hell, we vaulted over it—but if we’re ever alone again, it’ll
happen...again. You know it and I know it.”

* * *

     By the time she
reached the apartment, Hope had managed to regain her equilibrium and clear her
head of the passionate haze kissing Nick caused. When she opened the door to
her apartment, she saw Cullinan standing by the window. He didn’t say anything
when she stepped inside. Somehow, she had to make him understand what happened.
How could she make him understand when she didn’t even understand it herself?
She’d never experienced such high voltage sexual attraction. Certainly not the
kind that culminated in an off the scale kiss!

     Hope looked at the
rigid set of her brother’s shoulders and his hands shoved into the pockets of his
jeans, and knew she had her work cut out for her. Hope laid her purse and
briefcase on the sofa and shrugged out of her coat before walking to his side.
He didn’t acknowledge her presence with his usual teasing smile and quick hug.
An invisible wall surrounded him, a clear signal for her to keep out. She
wanted to touch his shoulder but dropped her hands to her sides instead.
Cullinan never liked to be touched when he was angry. “Cullinan, I know how it
looked, but I can explain.”

     He turned slowly and
faced her. His expression held anger, and hurt. She wanted to soothe it away
and make things right between them. After all, he was her only family.

     “Explain what?” His
eyes glittered with betrayal. “How you got up close and damn personal with the man
who wants to put me behind bars?” His lips spread into a sneer. “Or the part
where he had his tongue halfway down your throat and you were trying to rip his
clothes off?”

     The cold tone of his
voice and the crudeness of his words lashed at her like a thin, hard blade. He
hit the intended target—her pride
and
her conscience. She raised her
hands with the palms up. “It was a stupid thing to do. I let my hormones get
the better of me. I’m—”

     He gripped her by
the upper part of her arms. “What did you tell him about me, Hope?” His voice
grated over her nerves in a harsh, raw tone. “Or does that come later during
pillow talk?”

     A sharp thorn of
hurt needled her heart. “How could you believe I would betray you and the mission?”
She whispered the words as emotion clogged her throat. “Morelli’s a cop and I’m
an attorney. Both of us have vowed to uphold the law, but no matter what comes
down the pike, you and I are family—period.” His angry expression faded.
Cullinan dropped his grip on her arms and turned to face the window. He raked a
hand through his hair and heaved a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just that when
I saw the two of you, I freaked. I thought he’d gotten to you, made you tell
him things.”

     “You should know me
better.”

     He glanced at her,
smiled and held his arm out. She went to him and snuggled next to  
his side; he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The worry she’d felt that he
might not    forgive her slipped away.

     “I do.” He whispered
the words softly against her temple. “I’ll remember next time.” He gave her a
quick kiss on the cheek then let her go.

     “Next time?”

     He shrugged and
headed for her small kitchen. “The next time you see Morelli.”

     ...if we’re ever
alone again, it’ll happen...again. You know it and I know it...
Nick’s words echoed through her mind but she
pushed them away. “I’m not planning to see Morelli again, at least not alone.”

     Cullinan laughed.
“Right.” He opened the refrigerator and stuck his head inside. “You keep
telling yourself that. Chemistry of that magnitude doesn’t just go away.”

     Hope kicked off her
shoes and slumped onto the sofa. With a little luck, maybe the one kiss they’d
shared had burned off the sexual attraction they’d been harboring for one
another. She rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension, grateful her long day
was over. “I could say the same thing about you and Tess.”

     He rummaged around
in the refrigerator, withdrew a carton of eggs and a bag of lettuce, and set
them on the counter. “There is no me and Tess. How does an omelet and salad
sound for dinner?”

     “Like heaven.
Especially if you’re cooking. You keep telling yourself that about Tess as
well.” When he didn’t say anything more, Hope decided to prod him further. “Have
you seen her lately?”

     “No.”

     “Maybe you should.
She was sick with a bad cold, missed a few days of work.”

     “So?”

     Hope smirked and
watched him carefully. “So, Abel told me he went by to see her...bearing
gifts.”

     Cullinan stiffened for
a moment then continued to crack eggs into a bowl. “What does that have to do
with me?”

     Now for the kicker.
“Nothing if you didn’t care about her, but since I know for a fact you do, it’s
significant because Abel told me he intends to pursue a relationship with her.”

     Cullinan stopped
whisking the eggs for a moment then continued more vigorously. “Tess is free to
date whoever she pleases.”

     Hope rose from the
sofa and walked toward the kitchen, loosening the belt of her slacks then
pulling her blouse from the waistband. She retrieved a bottle of wine from the
fridge and two glasses from the cabinet and poured out. She set a chilled glass
of wine on the counter beside Cullinan. “That’s very democratic of you. Only
she’s not interested in

Abel...she’s interested in you.”

     Cullinan poured the
egg mixture into a nonstick pan, turned the flame down and began slicing some
tomatoes for the salad. “Tess has no interest in me except where her precious
pendant is concerned. She made that crystal clear.”

     Hope sipped her wine
and leaned against the counter. “Tess still loves you. I can see it in her
eyes.”

     “Bullshit.” Cullinan
scraped bits of tomato into the bowl with the salad greens. “Could we talk
about something else?”

     She sighed, moved to
one of the chairs at the bar and sat down. “One more thing...Abel isn’t right
for Tess; he’ll clip her wings.”

     Cullinan sprinkled
grated cheese and seasonings into the omelet before folding one half over the
other. “Would you mind setting out some plates? Dinner’s almost ready.”