Playing With Fire (18 page)

I smacked onto a solid foundation, and my bag smacked into me.

The force of both blows vibrated through my bones. Dizzy, I remained immobile, prone, trying to breathe, trying to see, trying to will strength into my trembling limbs. At least the air proved clean and fresh, a welcome contrast to the smoke-filled rooms above.

Rome plowed on top of me, his bag slapping me in the face. The only oxygen I’d been able to draw in rushed out of me unbidden.

“Sorry, baby.” He scrambled off me, blood dripping down his side. Grimacing, he rifled through his bag.

He was naked. I had known it before, but hadn’t grasped the actuality. Rome was naked, as in not a stitch of clothing covered his magnificent body. Why? Wait. Did it matter? He was tanned and toned, and even in my weakened condition I could appreciate his hard (large) strength. I almost cried when he whipped out a pair of pants and tugged them on.

“No underwear?” I managed to sputter. A girl had to embrace a good distraction when it came along.

“I don’t wear them.” He fastened the button. “Ever. Come on. Firemen are here, and we can’t afford to be detained or spotted.”

“We didn’t—” shallow breath “—question any—” another breath “—of the bad guys.”

“There were more than I anticipated. Taking one would have slowed us down or gotten us killed.”

He helped me to a shaky stand and pulled me into motion. I wanted so badly to fall to my face, to close my eyes and sleep forever. It took a conscious effort to place one foot in front of the other. Water dripped from my hair onto my already soaked clothing. I scanned the surrounding area. Plain gray walls. Some type of machinery. The scents of soap and oil. Were we in the basement of the apartment building?

“Faster, Belle. You can do it.”

I tried to keep up with Rome, I really did, but I’d inhaled too much smoke. Racking coughs plagued me. Utter weakness had taken root in my every cell. When I tripped over a cord, I didn’t have the strength to right myself. Darkness blanketed my mind before I hit. No. Not hit, I mused groggily. Floated. Rome had caught me, his strong arms banded around me. His voice drifted through my subconscious. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”

If he kept calling me baby, I thought, just before darkness consumed me, I really would fall in love with him.

“C
OME ON
. Take a drink.”

Cool liquid touched my lips before descending my raw, aching throat. I coughed and sputtered and dragged my eyelids open. Hazy light stung my eyes, and I blinked.

“Drink,” Lexis commanded, her expression stern. She loomed over me, the plastic cup in her hand poised at the edge of my mouth.

Had I died and gone to hell? I raised myself as best I could and drank. The liquid’s tart flavor filled my mouth before scraping at my throat. I winced.

“There,” she said. “Don’t you feel better?”

“No.” The word was hoarse, barely audible.

She chuckled, easing down beside me and setting the cup aside. “You scared us pretty badly.”

Images of the fire, of the men I’d hurt—probably killed—flashed through my mind, and I pressed my lips together. They were bad guys. I shouldn’t feel guilty. They’d tried to hurt me, tried to hurt Rome. Rome! His image filled my mind next, his chest bloody. Panic slithered through me. How was he?
Where
was he?

I tried to sit up. “Where’s Rome?” Gaze wild, I searched my surroundings. Lexis and I were the only ones present, and we seemed to be inside a cabin. Wooden walls, wooden floors. Only the barest amount of furniture: a bed, a lamp, a table and a few chairs.

“Settle down,” she said. “Rome is fine.”

“He had a deep cut.”

“No, it was a paltry wound that has already begun to heal.”

“There was a cat, a jaguar—”

“I’m sure there was, but Rome wasn’t hurt by it. I promise. Just lie back and relax.”

“Tanner—”

“Is fine,” she said, cutting me off. “Everyone survived. All is well. It was
you
we worried about. You’ve been asleep almost an entire day.”

“A day?” I allowed her to ease me back onto the mattress. God, I hated being this weak, this vulnerable. I stared up at the domed timber ceiling. “Where are we?”

“My cabin. It’s on the outskirts of Madison. But don’t worry,” she added. “No one knows about it, not even John. Rome built it for occasions such as this. I made sure Tanner and I weren’t followed, and knowing Rome as I do, he did the same.”

“Where is he?”

“I sent him and the boy to gather supplies. They were driving me crazy with their concern for you, and the cave is only a short walk away.” She busied herself tucking the plain brown covers around me. “Rome found the cave years ago and has stocked it with every item a person in hiding might need.”

Lethargy beat through me, beckoning me to sleep a little longer. My eyelashes fluttered shut, heavy with exhaustion, but I forced them open. Forced myself to concentrate on her words. “Why were they concerned for me?”

“Well…” She paused, cleared her throat. “You stopped breathing several times.”

Stopped breathing? My hand fluttered to my aching throat. Dear Lord. I’d come close to dying, and I hadn’t known it. I wouldn’t have had the chance to tell my dad or Sherridan goodbye. Wouldn’t have gotten to see them one final time. “I want to call my dad,” I said, suddenly filled with the need to hear his voice.

“Before you do,” Lexis said, an odd inflection in her voice, “Rome would like to talk to you about him.”

“Why?” I jolted upright, and the hasty action cost me dearly. Dizziness and nausea blasted me; bright lights winked in front of my eyes. I rubbed my temple with one hand and clutched my stomach with the other.
He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine.
“Why?” I repeated, the word no more than a tortured moan.

“There’s no reason to worry. Your dad is alive and well. I promise.”

My heart drummed in my chest, and cool prickles rolled in my veins as I stared into the green depths of her eyes, trying to glean the truth. She appeared sincere, and I decided to believe her. Slowly relaxing, I flopped back against the pillow. “What’s wrong with me? Why am I so weak?”

“Smoke inhalation is our guess.”

I frowned. “Shouldn’t I be immune to that? I mean, I started the fire.”

Her delicate shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Rome said you’re probably ultrasensitive to pollutants now. While you can withstand the fire itself, the ensuing smoke devastates you more than other people because you are now one with Mother Earth. Pollutants now hurt you as much as they hurt the world.”

That made sense. I didn’t like it, but it made sense.

Lexis turned away from me and walked to the room’s only window. She separated the brown curtains, peeking out. Whoever picked the brown color scheme needed a serious spanking. Talk about bland. Must have been Rome, since Lexis’s taste—as proved by her apartment—was colorful and expensive. So, Rome needed the spanking, did he? My pleasure.

“Is someone coming?” I asked.

“No.”

A thick blanket of silence descended over us. I shifted uncomfortably on the bed. What was she—

“I love him,” she blurted out.

O-kay. Going there, were we? Better to get it out in the open, I guess, than to let it fester between us. “I realized that within an hour of meeting you. So why did you cut him loose?”

She laughed bitterly. “I’m psychic, which is both a blessing and a curse. I—I knew before I married Rome that I wasn’t meant to be with him, but I did it anyway. I hoped I could make him love me the way I loved him.”

My brow wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

She tossed me a sad half smile, and my chest actually constricted in sorrow for her. The pain in her eyes was staggering. “We were together for several years, married several more, and then I got pregnant. Yet all along I knew, deep down, that if I didn’t walk away from him, he would be tied to my side when he didn’t really want to be there.”

“I’m not usually this dense. I hope. But I don’t get what you’re trying to tell me.”

I didn’t need an empath to help me read her emotions at that moment. Her shoulders slumped as her sadness deepened. “Rome likes me. He might even love me, but it’s not the kind of love a man should have for a wife. I knew, I always knew, that there was someone else for him. He didn’t. He thought I was the one, but he would have learned the truth soon enough. And he would have stayed with me despite wanting—no, craving—this other woman.” She wiped a tear from her eye with a trembling hand. “I couldn’t have endured that.”

Her words were both wonderful and terrible. She wasn’t the right woman for him, but was I? I couldn’t kiss him without starting a fire. Trouble followed me everywhere. I was currently jobless. Not exactly great girlfriend material. Still. I wanted to be the right woman. Badly. If I wasn’t…My stomach twisted.

“Who
is
right for him?” I found myself asking. My fingers clutched the sheets as I waited for her answer. I hoped; I dreaded.

“Maybe you. Maybe someone else. I don’t know who.”

So there was still hope, but there was also doubt. A sharp ache tore through my temples. Cringing, I covered my eyes with the crook of my arm. Best to change the subject before I induced a brain aneurism from overanalyzing. “I’m sorry about your home. You were right. I torched it.”

She waved her hand through the air. “It was only a building. Rome and Sunny are safe. That’s all that matters.”

I didn’t want to like her, I really didn’t. After everything she’d revealed, however, I found that I did. Despite my (alleged) jealousy. She could have railed at me for holding the (temporary) affection of the man she loved. She could have thrown me out. Instead, she gave me that sad smile.

“I think you have two admirers,” she said, wistful. “Tanner was so worried about you.”

“Well, I like Tanner, too. He’s a good kid.”

“He’s not a child. He’s a man who just has a bit more maturing to do.”

Her affection for him was clear.

“His abilities are raw,” she added, “hardly developed, but I think with the proper training he could do great things.” A warm chuckle escaped her. “Rome almost knocked him out.” Her smile spread all the wider as she returned to the bed. “Tanner kept saying you would have been perfectly healthy if Rome had let you leave with him, and I think it hit Rome hard. He has always been a protector, yet he had enough faith in you to utilize your…skills.”

There was just enough hesitation in her voice to suggest I didn’t really have any skill, but I still experienced a tendril of pleasure because Rome
had
trusted me. The pleasure was quickly followed by prickles of disappointment. “I hate that I did so little to actually help, and so much more to hinder. The only reason he and I stayed around was to question one of the men, but I ended up freezing or barbecuing everyone there. And then—”

Lexis suddenly straightened, and she lost her good humor. My words ceased abruptly. “What? What’s wrong?” I demanded. I guess I was coming to rely on Lexis as Rome and Brittan did.

“The door is…” Frowning, she closed her eyes and an aura of stillness came over her. Several seconds passed, and her smile returned. “The men are about to return. As Tanner would say, Rome is pi-issed.”

A
S PREDICTED
, the door burst open. Rome stalked inside, dragging a protesting Tanner behind him. When the door closed in their wake, he pushed Tanner into a chair and dropped a heavy bag at the boy’s feet.

“I’m not afraid to use my lethal kung fu moves on you,” Tanner growled.

“Stay,” Rome growled back. “And don’t speak for the rest of the day.” He pivoted toward me, and when our eyes met his expression softened. “You’re awake.”

I sat up slowly and finger-combed my hair, wishing I had a mirror. I probably looked like crap, while he looked edible. He wore one of the black T-shirts he favored, and black slacks. I would have liked to see him in stone-washed jeans, but he only ever wore pants. And no underwear, I suddenly recalled, my cheeks heating.

He approached me and settled at the edge of the bed, a whisper away. My heartbeat accelerated, nearly exploding from my chest when his arm brushed mine. Always there was this electric tingle between us.

“How are you?” I asked, drinking him in. His face glowed with healthy color. He didn’t appear strained or hurt. In fact, he looked perfectly normal. Well, as normal as a dark angel could look.

“I’m good. Just a twinge in my side. How are
you?
”

“Better.”

He reached out and smoothed a hand over my cheek, his gaze becoming fierce. Lethal. “You scared me. Don’t ever do that again.”

I shivered at the savage intensity he projected. “I won’t.”

His blue, blue eyes bored into mine as he laced our fingers together. “When you passed out…”

I squeezed his hand.

“Ah, look at the little lovebirds,” Tanner cooed. “Want Lexis and me to leave?”

“Yes,” Rome said, not switching his focus from me. They didn’t leave, unfortunately, but stayed where they were. With absolute tenderness, Rome’s thumb played across my palm. “Belle, do you feel well enough to go outside and practice using your powers?”

At the moment, with his strength seeping into me, I felt capable of anything. “Sure.”

“Good. After yesterday, I need to know how you’ll hold up. Besides, I don’t want to head into the city until dark, so we’ve got time to kill.” He turned to Lexis. “Did you tell her about her dad?”

I stiffened with renewed fear and felt a cool draft gust through my veins.

“No,” Lexis said. “I knew you would want to explain.”

“Someone better tell me what’s going on with my dad before I freeze this entire place.”

With his free hand, Rome hooked a strand of hair behind my ear. “He’s fine, but I’m afraid Vincent might try to use him to draw you out.”

A lump formed in my throat, and my hand flew to my mouth. If my dad were in danger, I’d—I’d…I’d simply die, and take everyone responsible with me. “We can’t move him from the center. His medication is there. His nurses are there.”

“I know. That’s why I’d like to send Lexis to guard him.”

“I don’t know.” Automatically, my attention moved to the woman in question. Yes, I’d seen her catch the knives Rome had thrown to her, but could she fight off armed men? Would she kill to protect my father, a man she’d never met before?

Her lips twitched in genuine amusement. Before I could blink, she unsheathed a knife and tossed it straight at me. I heard a whoosh, immediately followed by a thud as the blade embedded in the wall behind me. I gasped out, “Holy shit!”

“I can take care of him,” she said, her confidence a palpable force.

“Way to test my bladder control,” I said drily. My pulse hammered hard and fast. God knows I didn’t have enough excitement in my life. Having a knife thrown at me was like contaminated icing on an already poisoned cake. “She’s perfect,” I told Rome. “I’ll have to call the center and ask if they’ll allow her, but—”

“No need,” he said, cutting me off. “The kid here apparently does have some uses. He’s very good with a computer and already hacked into their system. They are now under the assumption that a specialized cardiac nurse has been ordered to give him twenty-four-hour care.”

“Okay. Good. I’ll just call my dad and—”

“No phone calls. No telling who’s been tapped.” There was an apology in his tone, but the command was clear, unrelenting.

Besides, I’d told my dad I wouldn’t call him. I’d told him I would be away on a fabulous vacation, relaxing.
I wish.

“Unlike what you see in the movies,” Rome said, “phone calls can be traced instantly. If your dad is under any type of monitoring, I don’t want you in contact with him.”

“I understand.” Sighing, I glanced at Lexis. “Can you keep me updated on him? Secretly? He thinks I’m on vacation, and it would be best to let him keep thinking that.”

“Of course.”

I eased back against my pillow. “I’ll shower and eat, then we can go outside for our practice session. Okay?” I asked Rome.

He leaned down, pressing his cheek against mine, but not before I caught a glimpse of his wickedly sexy smile. “Belle Jamison naked and in the shower. I like that image.”

I gulped, and peered once again at Lexis, who had already turned away from us to busy herself in the kitchen. I didn’t want to hurt her more than necessary. Look at what the woman had done—and what she was
going
to do for me. I don’t think Rome realized his ex still loved him. In his realm of male understanding (aka limited), he likely figured Lexis didn’t care who he was with.

“One day I’ll be able to join you in there—and not just in my mind.” His breath fanned my cheek, then my ear, and he added softly, “I’ve been thinking about this, and I think the shower is the perfect place for us. If things get too hot, the water will cool us off.”

Or turn us to steam, as hot as I was for him. “One day,” I replied just as softly. God, I hoped that day came soon. “I want you so much.”

His nostrils flared, and his eyes gleamed with heat. He looked, in short, like a man who was battling a savage need to claim me. “Get in there. Hurry. I’ve been worried about you, and if you don’t get in there I’m going to take you here and now.”

Oh, I loved it when he went all alpha on me. I lumbered from the bed. My knees were wobbly as I hobbled into the bathroom. For my own sake, I locked the door.

I showered, lingering in the hot, steamy water and letting it clean me inside and out. I felt stronger with every second that passed. The damp, misty air soothed my throat and swept the soot from my lungs. A part of me worried about Pretty Boy Vincent finding us and bursting in on me, catching me with my pants down. I’d been surprise-attacked too many times in the last couple of days. Still, the other part of me simply luxuriated in this totally
normal
act. The cabin was a safe haven, and one I desperately needed at the moment.

When the water became too cold to bear, I exited and dressed in the black shirt and jeans Lexis had packed for me—which someone had laid across the toilet. Someone who had picked the door lock and entered the bathroom without my knowledge. Whoever the lock picker was (cough, cough—Rome!) hadn’t brought me panties or a bra.

I was unwilling to wear the dirty ones—if I had them, that is, which I didn’t. The aforementioned
someone
had taken them with him. So, as this
someone
had obviously planned, I dressed without them. No panties. No bra. My lips inched into a smile. Lecherous man.

Rome was a true male, even in the face of danger.

When I emerged, a cloud of steam followed me. Rome, Tanner and Lexis were at the table, eating breakfast. Seemed weird, since the last meal I recalled was the breakfast in Lexis’s apartment. I guess that’s what happens when you sleep an entire day away. I strode to them, meaning to claim the empty chair next to Rome, but he tugged me onto his lap and plopped a buttered biscuit in front of me, all without pausing in his speech.

“—forces are divided while they search for both Belle and Dr. Roberts. Now is the perfect time to strike.”

Sitting in his lap aroused me. My nipples instantly pearled; my stomach quivered in anticipation of a touch. Maybe I was a slut and a harlot (a slot?). Or maybe, just maybe, Rome emitted lethal pheromones no woman could resist.

“I’m not saying I disagree with you,” Lexis said, slathering her own biscuit with strawberry jelly, “but you have to consider the fact that we’re divided, too. I’ll be with Belle’s father, while the three of you evade capture from Vincent. And John, if he’s looking for you.”

“John might be looking for us?” I asked. I smeared honey on my biscuit and then proceeded to inhale it. “I thought Rome took care of him.”

“He has to know you’re helping Belle now,” Lexis said to Rome.

He plucked the last nibble from my fingers and popped it into his mouth. “For all he knows, she escaped me and I’m still hunting her down.”

Lexis snorted. “No one intelligent will believe she escaped you.”

“Hey! For your information,” I told her indignantly, “I
did
escape him.”

“And I helped,” Tanner added. His chest puffed up like a peacock.

“I know you did, honey, and I’m proud of you.” Lexis patted his back. “Truth is stranger than fiction, I suppose, but no one will believe Belle defeated Rome.”

“I called John and told him she was a wily little thing and had gotten away,” Rome said, “but that I’d find her soon and bring her ass in.”

Both Lexis and I gasped. “You did?” we asked simultaneously. Our tones were different, though. She sounded surprised. I sounded pissed.

Rome’s hand squeezed my waist. “Yes, I did.”

Okay, I was totally feeling betrayed here. Did Rome truly plan to bring me in after I helped him with Sunny? I couldn’t stand it; I had to know. I
deserved
to know. “Are you going to be an asshole and give me to John when you no longer need me?”

“John didn’t say much,” Rome said, ignoring me. “Just told me to find her before Vincent did.”

Lexis sighed. “Knowing John, he’s probably got other agents looking for her.”

“Stop ignoring me. I’m getting mad, and we all know that’s not a good thing.” I pinched Rome’s leg. “You better answer me.”

“We’ll talk about this later, Wonder Girl,” he said.

Wonder Girl. Hmm, I liked it. I just wished he had answered me. Frowning, I sipped at my water. “Why later?” I finally asked, unable to help myself.

He sighed. “You’ll get mad. I’d rather talk to you about it in the shower.”

My stomach twisted. “Why will I get mad?” There was only one answer that would make me mad, and that was that Rome did indeed plan to betray me.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I did plan to turn you in, okay? After we got Vincent off your back, I planned to dangle you in front of John so he’d be distracted, and I could take Sunny safely into hiding.”

Tanner and Lexis became quiet, and all hint of moisture left my mouth. “But…but I thought you said you needed my powers to help hide her.”

“I did, just not the way you assumed. John will want you even more when you’re able to control your abilities.”

“You bastard!” I tried to jump out of his lap, but he wouldn’t let me. He held on tight. “You told me to trust you, and you even said specifically that you wouldn’t betray me,” I yelped.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve felt horribly guilty for double-crossing you. I was only able to comfort myself with the thought that you’d be able to take care of yourself.”

“You—you—” Words failed me, I didn’t know what to call him. I’d never felt so betrayed in my life—not even when I’d discovered that the Prince of Darkness had cheated on me.

“I’m not going to do it,” Rome said, squeezing my waist again. “I can’t. I realized that last night. I’ll think of something else.”

I started to relax, but forced myself to stay on guard. “What changed your mind?” I demanded.

“Yes, what changed you mind?” Lexis echoed.

I whipped my gaze to her. “You knew?”

She nodded.

Bitch!

“I didn’t like seeing you hurt,” Rome admitted. He watched me. “I’m sorry, baby. I am. I can’t stand the thought that I could be the cause of anyone hurting you. Including myself. Do you forgive me?”

Yes, I realized. I did. I was hurt, but I did forgive him. He had wanted to protect his daughter and had been willing to do anything necessary. I would have done the same for my dad. “Yes,” I said.

He let out a relieved breath. “Good. You’re as innocent as Sunny, and I’d like to keep you that way, Wonder Girl.”

“That name is totally lame,” Tanner interjected, clearly trying to bring back our earlier jovial mood. “She’s Viper, plain and simple—unless we decide to go with Homicidal Tendencies Wench like I suggested earlier, that is.”

I threw a glob of egg at him. The small white-yellow missile nailed him in the nose and tumbled onto his black shirt. I looked down at myself, looked at Rome, then looked at Tanner again. “Hey, we’re all wearing black.”

“That’s because we’re going to break and enter tonight,” Rome said, his voice as calm as if he’d told us we were signing up for a massage and pedicure.

“Dr. Roberts?” The fact that I didn’t protest the actual breaking and entering spoke volumes. I was becoming a hard-core criminal. An outlaw who obeyed no rules but my own.
A little dramatic, don’t you think, Jamison?
I’d never broken into a place before, and was a bit scared about the prospect now. Scared and, I admit, excited.

“Yep. We’re touring the doc’s place,” Tanner said. “Uninvited.”

My lips dipped into a frown. “It’s probably being watched.”

“I’m counting on that,” Rome replied. “This time we’ll make sure we leave someone alive to question. Which reminds me. If everyone is done with their breakfast, we need to help Belle learn to control her powers.”

G
OOD THING THE SUPPLIES
Rome and Tanner had fetched earlier were a fire extinguisher, raincoats, gloves and an industrial-size bottle of Tylenol. Not to mention the supplies Rome had acquired when he’d left me in that “safe house” I burned down. Guns, guns and more guns. Large guns, small guns, guns that didn’t look like guns.

I’d never fired one before, but vowed to learn. If people were going to shoot at me, I was damn well going to shoot back. Dirty Harriet, that’s me.