Hunting (25 page)

She’d probably do much
better than Paige, and it would be more expedient to use a woman
who already had a child, and who didn’t need quite the training
that Paige did. It could bring about his goals in half the
time.

But that didn’t mean he
couldn’t plan something for Paige as well?

He had the entire day free
to work on his strategy, and he actually laughed aloud seeing the
forensic crew—women he knew from their association with Paige and
Alessandra—scanning Malachi’s house.

He’d put those cameras into
place over three years ago, and they were just now being searched
out.

They wouldn’t find them.
He’d hidden them far too well.

A few hours later and he
had to admit he’d overestimated the techs’ cleverness. They’d found
a third of his cameras, which was far more than he’d expected. But
he still had the main ones.

Malachi’s
bedroom.

Alessandra’s bed and
bath—he did enjoy the sight of a female form so well put together.
He was a perfect example of a healthy male, after all.

And even the kitchen where
they all still sat, discussing what he suspected was him, had been
missed.

He laughed.

He appreciated the move
Malachi had made, though it resulted in no lost pieces for either
of them at this point.

Well played,
Malachi.

“
So this is it, isn’t it?”
Julia waved the list toward Malachi. It was just them at the table
again. Cody and Kelly had left hours earlier with the cameras
they’d found. Julia tried not to think about those cameras, or how
close the UNSUB had gotten to all of them. “Whoever is after
you—
us—
is on this list.”

Twenty names—far more than
she’d thought—were on the list. Hopefully, they could narrow it
down even farther.

“
Let’s get out of here for
a while.” He stood, took the list from her hand. He tossed it on
the table between them. “We’ll take Ruthie out to Pizza Pit and
fill her with carbs and soda. We’ll pretend this guy doesn’t exist,
and it’s just the three of us out for a night together.”

She checked the clock on
his oven. It was close to time to feed Ruthie. And if they were
out, at least they wouldn’t be
dwelling
on what they didn’t
know yet. There would be plenty of time to go over the list again
after Ruthie was in bed.

“
Like this?” Her hair was
falling down, and she’d stuck a pencil in it to keep it in place
while they’d worked.

“
Exactly
like this.
You look fine. Like a mother who’s been at home with her kid all
day. You look…perfect. Let’s go.”

Spontaneous. Assured. He
grinned at her, that irrepressible, arrogant, egotistical
Mr.
Perfect
grin that drove her three directions up the wall.
This
was the Malachi she saw the most when she looked at
him. This was the Malachi who drove her crazy. She’d almost missed
him today while he’d been so focused on finding the
UNSUB.

She stood. Put her hand in
his. “Let’s go.”

He grinned, then bent down
and kissed her, hard. “Grab your purse. I’ll grab the kid and tell
my brother where we’re going.”

***

He’d disconcerted her, and
Malachi hid a laugh in a cough. He’d grabbed her arm the instant
she’d exited Ruthie’s room after putting the little girl to bed for
the night. It had been so easy to pull Julia down the stairs to the
living room. “Sit. I’ll get you something to drink. Tea or apple
juice?” Julia never touched alcohol. He’d wondered at it—until he
remembered Georgia mentioning that the driver who’d struck her
fiancé and Julia’s husband had been drunk. It was understandable on
her part.

“
Juice, please. Tea and I
don’t always agree.” She eyed him for a moment, wary hazel eyes
watching him like he was a deranged predator and she his only prey.
She was half right.  She was his prey, and he was bound and
determined to catch his prize. Tonight was as good a time to start
as any. “What do you want? I need to get to sleep.”

“
It’s early yet. You don’t
have to be at work until ten. And you set your own hours,
remember?” Perk of her position. Just like his. If he wanted to be
a few minutes late in the morning, he could. And it wasn’t quite
nine o’clock, anyway. She was just trying to escape him. And he
knew why. He’d seen her look at him tonight, with that softness in
her eyes. With the memories of South Dakota.

She wanted him just as much
as he wanted her. He knew it…and so did she.

“
Where’re Mick and
Al?”

“
Out. I’m not sure where
Al has managed to end up tonight, but Mick is back at Quantico for
tonight and tomorrow. He’ll be back tomorrow evening. He texted me
a few minutes ago.” He hid a grin when her eyes widened when she
realized that they were essentially alone.

“
So it’s just
you
in the house? Some protection.”

“
I can keep you safe.” He
had a car assigned to the street in front of his house, and one in
back. The extra detail would be there until his brother returned.
He wasn’t taking any chances with her and Ruthie’s safety. “I
will
keep you two safe. I can promise you that.”

He’d kill to protect the
woman in front of him and the child sleeping upstairs. Without
hesitation, and without remorse.

What kind of man did that
make him?

He fetched a bottled juice
from the kitchen then dropped to the sofa beside her. “I had fun
tonight.”

“
You certainly went all
out with the games. Have you always been that
competitive?”

“
Just a bit.” And he’d
probably been showing off for her, a little. It was what a man did
when with a woman he wanted to impress. “It was hard to resist,
seeing her face.”

“
Yes, it was.” Julia’s
expression softened and a smile touched her face. He wanted to kiss
that smile. So he did, briefly.

“
And watching the two of
you together. You’re good with her. I think you’ll be a wonderful
mother.”

“
What changed your mind?”
Her little smirk was back. It took every bit of restraint he had to
resist kissing that smirk. For now.

“
I never doubted your
capabilities.” And he hadn’t. What he’d doubted was her ability to
let the child close enough to matter. But Julia had proved him
wrong on that count early on. Just watching her with Ruthie was
enough to convince him she’d done the right thing trying to get the
little girl. And how could he not respect her for doing it? But he
doubted she’d believe him if he told her so.

“
Sure you
didn’t.”

“
It just surprised me that
you’d want to make that kind of commitment to a child you’d only
met once or twice. But it is admirable.”

“
I’m not doing it for
admiration. I’m doing it because she had no one else.”

“
But her brothers did?”
There’d been three.

“
A great-uncle. He wrote
me a letter. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Ruthie, it was just that
she was too young and too female for him to handle. He’s in his
sixties, is very rough, and wrote that he’d planned to leave his
ranch to her brothers, anyway. I’m half convinced he took them to
help him work the place. It would have been no real life for her.
He sounded relieved I was taking her in the letter.”

“
And the Byrums had no one
else.”

“
No one who would step up
to the plate. She was all alone. I couldn’t do
nothing.
”

“
No, you couldn’t have.”
He acted before he thought, pulling her over into his lap. Her hand
wrapped in the material of his shirt over his arm. Her eyes had
widened, and her mouth parted slightly.

She looked perfect for
kissing. So Malachi did what he always did when a decision was
needed—he acted.

At first she was stiff in
his arms, for maybe two seconds, then her arms slipped around his
neck and she clung. Like she had in South Dakota.

Why had it taken him so
long to realize
this
was exactly what he’d wanted from her?
Was he wearing blinders where she was concerned? Had he been for
the nine months she’d been with PAVAD? Why?

Her hands were in his hair
and she was holding him just as tightly as he held her. He shifted
her, leaning her back against the arm of the sofa. She didn’t try
to pull away, and he didn’t try to rush her. But he kissed her with
everything he had.

She pulled away slightly,
trying to catch her breath. He let her, shaken by his own feelings.
He rested his forehead against hers.

“
Well. This is so not what
I expected when I agreed to stay here. One thing’s for certain, you
certainly don’t kiss like a Neanderthal.”

“
Thanks.” He let her sit
up, but held her on his lap when she tried to scoot away. “Don’t
move. Please don’t move. You feel good right there.”

“
I think the best thing
for all of us would be for me to do exactly that.”

He tightened his hands on
her waist, shifting so that she looked directly into his eyes.
“
Why?”

“
Because…because…I’m
me.
And you’re…you’re… annoying. And arrogant. And you drive
me insane nine-tenths of the time you’re around!
This
doesn’t make any sense.” She shook her head, and the pony-tail
swung with the movements.

“
I think it does. I think
the reason I do all those things to you is because you know deep
down that I can make you feel. And I think that terrifies you.” He
leaned her back a little, just until she was clutching his arms for
balance. “Admit it; I scare you. Little coward. Kiss me
back.”

***

Oh, how she wanted to hit
him. She knew why, too.
He
was right. She was a coward. What
could this hurt either of them? South Dakota, a mere month ago,
hadn’t hurt them. Hadn’t affected their lives at all, other than to
make them more aware of each other. More vulnerable—at least,
she
was more vulnerable. She couldn’t forget
that.

But, then again, this was
Malachi, and she’d not wanted a man like she’d wanted him in years.
What would it hurt? She’d stay with him until he caught the bad
guy, then she and Ruthie would return to their lives clear across
town. She’d content herself with happy memories of being with an
attractive, kind, and loving man. Those memories could sustain her
just like those of Rick did.

Only the
unhappy
ending wouldn’t have to be there. Jules hesitated for a second,
then unbuttoned his shirt, decision made. The undershirt was
so…so…essentially
goody
-
goody
Malachi. Still, it made
every muscle he had look harder, stronger, even more perfect. She
wanted to touch and taste him again.

Was this something she
would regret?

Honestly, she didn’t think
it mattered. What mattered was that he was there beside her, and he
was
alive.
They both were. Wasn’t that what really counted?
They
were together, and today—
tonight—
was all they
really had. All that either of them could guarantee in this world.
Shouldn’t they seize it? Her hands moved a little faster as she
pulled the undershirt over his head. Why had he felt the need for
it? Was he that much of a stickler for propriety?

Stupid man. Didn’t he know
undershirts were useless?

His hands were just as
quick, just as frantic as her own when he pulled the sweatshirt
over her head and threw it toward the wall. She giggled when it
landed on Clark’s head, and the dog just rolled on it and went back
to sleep.

Her bra was next, then his
hands were on her breasts and cupping them more tightly than she’d
expected. God, he had great hands.
Perfect
hands. He touched
her nipples, both of his thumbs stroking each piece of flesh with
just enough rough pressure to have her stomach tightening so
quickly she could barely think, breathe. Yes, he had wonderful
hands. Hands that touched her everywhere.

“
The knowledge of this
damned tattoo has driven me insane, did you know that? I saw it
one
time. And it haunted me for a month.” He kissed her
there on the tiny mark she’d gotten after medical school
graduation.

“
Why? It’s just
ink.”

“
It’s a hint at the type
of woman you really are underneath.
My
kind of
woman.”

She gasped when he lifted
her in his arms and carried her out of the living room and toward
the stairs. “Be quiet. She’s not a deep sleeper.”

“
Don’t worry, my room’s
way down the hall.”

“
I know…but…our
clothes?”

“
I’ll get them…later.” He
laid her on his bed, and Jules reached for him. Reached for him,
and then held on.

For one to be considered a
true voyeur there had to be sexual gratification while watching
others engaged in sexual contact.