Midnight Alias: A Killer Instincts Novel (21 page)

“You okay?” Isabel asked softly.

Heaven shrugged and reached for a fuzzy blue sweater. She put it on over her bare breasts, then grabbed a pair of hip-huggers from her locker and pulled them up her long legs.

“Heaven . . .” She impulsively put her hand on the girl’s arm, finding Heaven’s skin hot to the touch. “You can get help, you know. You don’t need to keep poisoning yourself.”

The blonde shrugged again.

“I’m serious, sweetheart. I know addiction is tough, but if you don’t kick it now, it’ll kill you.”

“Maybe I’m already dead,” Heaven said gloomily. “Or maybe I’m just a lost cause.”

She slammed her locker shut and stalked off, her high heels clicking against the floor tiles.

The sag of Heaven’s shoulders brought an ache to Isabel’s heart. Yeah, maybe the girl was right. Maybe Heaven truly was a lost cause.

“Damn shame,” she muttered to herself.

She slipped into her coat, then slung her purse over her shoulder. The Beretta stayed inside the bag, but Isabel got the sinking feeling that one of these days she might actually need to use it.

Chapter 12

When Olivia walked into her bedroom several hours later, she found Luke sleeping on her bed.

Yep, he was asleep on her
bed
. Just sprawled there on his back, long legs and scuffed black boots hanging off the edge of the mattress, one arm crooked behind his head.

Although she was startled, she didn’t cry out, because for some reason a part of her wasn’t all that surprised to find him here. After she’d hung up on him earlier, she’d pretty much expected to see him tonight. She got the feeling Luke wasn’t the kind of man who enjoyed being dismissed, and yeah, maybe giving him the dial tone had been unnecessarily harsh, but at that moment she’d been too ticked off to consider telephone etiquette. His cavalier attitude toward the fact that Vince was doping up strippers had annoyed the hell out of her.

The second she shut the door behind her, Luke’s eyes popped open, making her wonder if he’d even been sleeping at all. Either that, or he possessed the ability to snap out of slumber in a nanosecond and manage to look utterly alert.

As she approached the bed, his voice came out in a low drawl. “What part of ‘get the hell out of there’ didn’t you understand, Olivia?”

She frowned at him, grateful that her mom was sound asleep across the hall. This was the first time she’d ever had a man in her bedroom, and Kathleen would be full of questions if she knew Luke was here. Which raised the question of
how
he’d gotten in undetected in the first place.

“I climbed the fire escape,” he said, as if reading her mind. “And your window was unlocked. You should invest in a security alarm, darlin’.” The lazy voice sharpened. “Now answer my question.”

Scowling at him, she crossed the hardwood floor and approached her dresser. It was kind of awkward having Luke in her private space. Not that her bedroom was overflowing with feminine secrets. If anything, the room revealed her to be the most boring person on the planet—bed, closet, chest of drawers, and a stand-up floor mirror with a picture of Olivia and her mother tucked into the top corner.

“Do we have to do this now?” she grumbled. “It’s three in the morning and I’m exhausted. I want to get ready for bed.”

She heard the covers rustle and turned to see him slither up to a sitting position. “Then get ready for bed,” he said in a silky voice. He propped his arms behind his head with an indifferent expression. “It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before.”

Good point. But his remark still irked her. She pretended it didn’t and began undoing the buttons of her thin cardigan sweater. When his breath hitched, she experienced an odd sense of satisfaction. Ha. Mr. Indifferent wasn’t so indifferent anymore, was he?

Smirking, she shrugged out of the sweater and tossed it aside, took off her black camisole, and then undid the side zipper of her knee-length suede skirt. She was wearing a pair of black thigh-high stockings underneath, which looked silly paired with the boy-cut yellow panties with the smiley face on the crotch.

“I’m totally digging the undergarments,” Luke said, his sultry eyes moving from the yellow panties to the strapless wisp of black lace covering her breasts.

She frowned again. “Just get it out of your system, okay? But don’t yell, because my mom’s sleeping.”

“Fine.” He scowled. “What were you thinking? I told you to check Angelo’s office—and just his office. You had no business going to the back rooms.”

“I was carrying out
your
business. You wanted me to snoop, so I snooped. I don’t get why you’re so upset.” She reached for the butterfly clip holding her hair up and yanked it out. As her long brown tresses cascaded down her back, she finger-combed them and shot him a stony look.

“I’m upset because you could have been killed.”

Before she knew what was happening, Luke had hopped off the bed and barreled toward her, the muscles of his rippled chest bunching and flexing. In his snug black long-sleeve shirt and olive green camo pants, he looked downright predatory, yet at the same time sexy as hell. Her heart did an involuntary flip, and when he touched her face with one big hand, her heartbeat went Formula 1 on her.

He gripped her chin, forcing eye contact. “When I give you an order, you follow it, Olivia. If those two dudes had caught you . . . Fuck. This isn’t a game.”

She stared into his liquid chocolate eyes, stunned by the genuine concern she saw in them. “I know,” she said. “And I am sorry. But there was nothing in Vince’s office, so I figured I might as well keep snooping since I was already up there.” She paused. “I don’t think I can do that again, though. My heart was pounding like crazy the entire time. I’m not cut out for espionage.”

When Luke smiled, she knew he was no longer pissed at her.

“Oh, and speaking of espionage,” she added. “I think your team should investigate one of the dancers. Her name’s Candy Cane and I’m pretty sure she’s spying too. On me, that is.”

An odd look floated across his face. “Candy Cane,” he repeated.

“Yeah. I’m serious—I think Vince asked her to watch me, and I don’t want her to become a problem.”

“We’ll look into it” was all he said.

“Thanks.” She hesitated. “I really am sorry I didn’t follow your orders. The opportunity was there and I took it, you know? And damn it, but I just want to bring Vince down.”

“I know.” His thumb grazed her bottom lip. “Still, you can’t take chances like that. Leave the taking-down-Vince part to us.”

She bristled at that, stepping out of his grip. “But that’s not your endgame, is it? All you want to do is find that missing agent. The drugs, what Vince is doing to the girls, stopping him—that’s not part of the mission.”

“No,” he admitted. “And that’s not something you can fix either, darlin’. You need to focus on staying alive. If you want out of this messed-up situation you’re in, you’ve got to look out for yourself.”

Olivia knew he was right. Hell, since the attack, her only goal had been to get out of town and away from Vince Angelo. But things were different now. Was she supposed to forget that Vince had killed Cora? That he was sending her coworkers out to sleep with his criminal pals?

“You’re not a cop,” Luke continued. “You’re not going to single-handedly bring Angelo down, no matter how hard you try.” He shook his head. “I’ve got a friend who infiltrated De Luca’s organization
twice
and the Feds still couldn’t put the bastard away. These people are smart—that’s how they’ve stayed in business for this long. Nothing you or I do is going to change that.”

She sighed. “I know.”

“So look out for yourself. If the address you found pans out, this could all be over by tomorrow.” He stroked her cheek again, and she let him. “Once we find Dane, I’ll get you out of here. Both you and your mother.”

“How?” she whispered.

“Depends on how you want to go about it. You want new identities, you’ll get ’em.”

“And if I want to remain Olivia Taylor?”

“Then we’ll whisk you out of town, set you up somewhere, and arrange for round-the-clock protection in case Angelo tries to follow you.”

His earnest words floored her. Yes, she was risking her neck by spying on Vince, but Luke’s offer seemed above and beyond what he ought to be doing for her. She went quiet as she let it all sink in, until she felt his gaze burning into her and realized she was standing there in her underwear.

She cleared her throat. “I should put something on.”

“Or not,” he replied with a faint smile.

Olivia moistened her dry lips. “What exactly did you think was going to happen when you showed up here tonight?”

He shrugged. “I was going to lecture you for disregarding my orders.”

“And after the lecture?”

His eyes skimmed down to her chest then moved back to her face. “I didn’t plan that far ahead.”

A laugh slipped out. “I really do love the honesty.”

She studied his gorgeous face, and a jolt of attraction rippled through her. Jeez, she seriously had to get that under control. This man, charming as he might be, was not someone she could ever have a future with.

“How’s this for honesty?” Luke said abruptly. “I want you.”

Pure heat engulfed her body, turning into an inferno when she looked at his groin and saw the unmistakable bulge of an erection.

“And I think you want me too,” he added, raising one brow as if expecting her to contradict him.

“There might be a spark between us.” Her tone was grudging.

“Darlin’, that spark is burning so hot we’re about to burst into flames.”

Yep, there were flames licking at her skin, all right. And her nipples had puckered, straining against her lace bra. As their gazes locked, the air in the room grew thick, crackling with tension.

“I don’t have sex with men I’ve just met,” she murmured.

He rested his hands on her hips, the warmth of his touch searing her flesh. “Would you consider making an exception?”

It became difficult to breathe. God, she wanted this man so badly she couldn’t think straight.

But she couldn’t succumb to temptation without thinking it through first. She’d always been cautious when it came to relationships, probably because she’d spent her entire life listening to her mother defend a man who hadn’t deserved it. Kathleen had married Eddie Taylor after knowing him for less than a month; Olivia would never be that foolish. And she wasn’t going to be foolish now either. Luke Dubois was a mercenary making a pit stop in her life before he moved on to his next adventure. She couldn’t let herself forget that, even if his mere proximity did make every inch of her body tingle.

“If we do this . . .” She swallowed. “It won’t lead to anything permanent. You know that, right?”

“I don’t do permanent.” His words were gruff.

“You’re not allowed to fall in love with me,” she continued gravely. “And I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

Luke offered a dry grin. “Any more ground rules you’d like to set?”

“No. I think that’s it.”

“Thank God.”

And then his mouth came down on hers.

The kiss was pure domination. He simply took what he wanted, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as his hands tangled in her hair and his lower body slammed into hers. It caught her off guard, the skill with which he kissed her, the way he moved his hips to position his erection right against her. Yet there was something thrilling about that skill too. This was a man who knew precisely what to do, whose toe-curling kisses promised that the hottest sex of her life was on the horizon.

Olivia gasped when his hands moved to her chest. He cupped her breasts through her bra, then growled and tore open the front clasp.

She wrenched her mouth away. “Did you just rip my bra apart?”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he rasped.

“Said the caveman to the—”

He cut her off with another kiss, and a blast of heat scorched her skin. She was dizzy with desire, battling a level of arousal she’d never known before in her life. Everything about this man drove her wild. His scent, the feel of his calloused palms on her breasts, the taste of his lips as they devoured her mouth. She might not be the virgin Vince believed her to be, but she wasn’t some sexual vixen either. Her hands trembled as she touched Luke, her fingers tingling as they stroked the dark stubble covering his strong jaw.

She yelped when he cupped her bottom and lifted her up against him. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and held on tight as he carried her over to the bed and lowered them both onto the mattress. Their tongues dueled again, while his hips continued to thrust and release, teasing her into sheer oblivion. Moisture pooled between her legs and she spread her legs farther apart, sliding her hands down to his ass to bring him even closer. With a groan, he ground harder, moving his mouth to her neck, his tongue and teeth teasing her feverish flesh.

Olivia’s body was on fire. She was close to orgasm—and Luke was still fully dressed, for Pete’s sake. Her hands took on a life of their own, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, dragging the material off his broad shoulders. He helped her out by whipping the shirt onto the floor, the black wife-beater he wore underneath quickly following suit.

The sight of his bare torso made her moan. He was absolutely spectacular—golden skin, perfect sculpted muscles. She explored the planes of his chest, running her fingers over hard sinew, precisely defined pectorals, washboard abs. He had a few scars, a puckered one under his right nipple, a long white one on the curve of his hipbone, the one he’d acquired on his right arm while fighting off that pack of dogs. A tattoo covered his left bicep, an old-school clipper ship with billowing sails, and she traced it with her fingertips before pressing her mouth to the center of his chest, her tongue darting out to savor the clean, salty taste of him.

“Christ, you’re beautiful,” he muttered, gazing down at her with heavy-lidded eyes.

His hands found her breasts, squeezing, fondling, and when his fingers tugged on her nipples, she cried out in delight, stunned by the shock waves that rocked her body. His hips continued to move, the friction making her mindless with lust. She writhed beneath him, ready to beg him to take his damn pants off when the tension in her body suddenly snapped and an unexpected orgasm pounded into her.