Veil of Justice, Shadows of Justice Book 3 (19 page)

"I wasn't in your head that time, honest." He
sat down beside her, stretching his long legs. "You have to admit
we think a lot alike."

She didn't have to admit it out loud. He
burst into laughter and after a startled moment, she joined in.

When the giggles faded and only the sound of
the creek and birds remained, he said, "It wasn't your fault."

The sympathy in his voice set her on edge.
"At the museum, you mean."

"That too."

She groaned, shoving her fingers into her
hair. "Petra showed you everything."

Nathan winced. Kelly's misery was so obvious
and he only wanted to soothe. "She didn't do it voluntarily. The
little she did share was because you matter to her. Well, and she
was really pissed at me," he confessed. "You've been through a lot
and I was cruel. I'm sorry."

"You said that in the infirmary."

"But you needed to hear it again."

She paused in the process of wrestling the
tie out of her hair to stare up at him with those dark, fathomless
eyes. "How'd you piss her off?"

"The way I spoke to you after the
attack."

Kelly shook her head, her black hair
cascading over her shoulder. He longed to run his fingers through
it, but suppressed that part of the program. For now.

"Why didn't you complain more about this plan
of hers?" When her face shifted from confusion to worry, he rushed
on. "I mean I jumped you in the infirmary about the – the –"

"Suicide attempt," she finished. "You were
mad, you apologized."

"Yeah. I was out of line, but…"

"But?"

He got to his feet, worried he'd throttle
her, or worse, kiss her, if he stayed by her side. "I still can't
believe you'd be so selfish. You were blindsided by that attack."
He spun back around, leaves fluttering near his feet. "I watched
the replay. You fought brilliantly and have nothing to be ashamed
of."

"I lost the object we need."

Where was her temper? What did he have to say
to get to the warrior part of her? "It was just an old box," he
argued.

That dig had the desired effect; it just took
a form he didn't expect.

She belted him with a left hook that dumped
him in the creek. Then she followed, wading in to finish the job.
He ducked and evaded to the best of his ability, but it was a
challenge not to shout in celebration.

He might need fresh air, but for this woman,
fiery temper was the best medicine.

She hollered at him, ignorance being the
least of her insults among phrases he didn't want defined. "You
don't know anything about it!" she finished, shoving him back on
his ass.

He swiped his wet hair out of his face while
she was stomped up the bank. He scrambled, using his mind to trip
her, then he tackled her, gently, so he wouldn't add to her
previous injuries. She squirmed furiously against him, but he held
firm, wrapping her tight to trap her arms and hooking her legs with
his feet. When she stopped fighting, he pointed out the obvious,
"If I'm so stupid, enlighten me."

She glared at him, long enough that his body
forgot the plan and reacted to the feel of her rapid breath against
his chest.

"C'mon, Kelly," he begged, not sure what he
wanted more – the truth of the past or the pleasure of the
present.

"It's not just some old box. Let me up and
I'll tell you. At the cabin."

Cautiously, he freed her, one limb at a time.
He dusted off her back, carefully, and then took her hand as they
walked back. He gave her credit for accepting the touch when he
knew she wanted to be left alone.

He let her open the door this time and though
he ached to know everything the minute they were inside, he didn't
press or intrude.

"The bodies," she said, then stopped. He
didn't need to be an empath to sense her pain. Flopping onto a
well-worn sofa, she scrubbed at her face and started over. "You saw
the bodies through Petra, right?"

He nodded, aching for the bleak emptiness in
her voice.

"You saw my father and my brothers."

Through the fits and starts and flurries of
information, the full picture came together. He understood she'd
lived life secluded from mainstream society and marveled that a
feat like that was still possible anywhere, let alone America. Of
course here he was, standing in one of those very unlikely secluded
places.

The rigorous training, combined with growing
up as the only girl among six brothers explained her amazing
fitness and ability. And when she explained how her father squashed
her life's goal of guarding the map box, his heart simply broke for
her.

By god, he was in love. The decorated
soldier, Mr. Lone Wolf, in love with a woman who'd never officially
existed – a woman who could never exist officially.

It was an impossible union, but he knew he
didn't want anything else.

She rolled to her feet so suddenly he knew
he'd transferred the thought. "We should eat," she said, with a
blindingly fake smile.

"Kelly, I want –"

"It's Calisto actually, remember?"

"As in chalice."

She rolled her eyes and made a gagging sound.
"That's some education you've had. Call me Kelly. Or Cali if you
like."

"Cali," he tested it, liked it. "About the
map box," he added quickly when she seemed to panic. "Why would
your father make a duplicate and park the real box so far
away?"

"Oh. Umm. Petra said it had something to do
with me…" She moved another step and was in the small kitchen. "He
told us all the time that someday someone – some thing – would come
looking for it. Every generation prepared for that war."

"This is that war?"

"It would appear so." She grimaced and he
caught the shiver that rippled through her mind and body. "Though
we don't stand much chance if they use the maps."

"You haven't told me what the maps show."

"I haven't," she snapped. "I won't." Her
fingers twisted and she spun a tight circle in front of the sink.
"Since this obviously isn't Chicago, we can't just order in
whatever we want to eat." She rummaged around in the cooler one of
Slick Micky's girls had packed for them. "Looks like peanut butter
sandwiches or beef jerky."

"Did they send any beer?" Better to play
along, he thought, until she relaxed again.

She pulled out a long neck bottle and passed
it to him, making a face. "Hope you're not putting that with the
peanut butter."

He smiled, raised the bottle. "Join me?"

"Trying to get me drunk so I'll talk?"

He put the bottle to his lips to disguise the
grin that sprang to his lips. It was a fair accusation, though he'd
had enough talking. His body was processing other input while his
head worked on her puzzling past. He figured they'd both benefit
from a change of focus.

* * *

Kelly felt herself relax as the beer sank
into her system. She'd found some hearty deli sandwiches at the
bottom of the cooler – thank god. Smuggling aside, she admired
Slick Micky's set up. "The man knows how to make the most of his
recruits," she said, licking mustard from her fingers.

Nathan watched so intently she felt rather
like a rabbit who'd invited the fox in for tea. Unsettled, she
picked up the plates and hustled the whopping three paces to the
half-wall of cabinets that separated sitting room from kitchen.

"You probably need rest," she said, wishing
for her usual composure. "It's been a long day."

"It's been just as long for you too,
Cali."

She'd never been happier to hear her name
spoken. The way he said it lit her up inside, like her own private
campfire, but she knew if she reached out to him she'd get burned.
She applied herself to rinsing the dishes without breaking them. "I
think you should take the bedroom."

He was right behind her. It was impossible to
miss his movements in a space this small, so she really shouldn't
have been startled. "Petra said I shouldn't leave you alone."

She wanted to get mad, and found her temper
alarmingly absent. "Surely you can see I'm feeling much
better."

"I'd like to know exactly how you feel. I
want to touch you with my hands, not just my mind."

His sultry voice had her spinning around in
time to catch the blatant invitation on his face. She looked away.
It was better to cling to the values she'd grown up with, but as he
surrounded her, his desire washing over her, those values felt
distant and childish. Flustered, she turned her back on him.

"Not childish at all." He brushed her hair
forward and set his lips to her nape. "What's important to you
matters to me."

"But…" she squirmed away, unable to think in
a straight line when he was so close, so hot, so…male. She
sidestepped again, redefining cowardice as self-defense. "But it
will change everything and there's still too much undone."

He looked distinctly uncomfortable. "That's
an unshakable truth." Boldly, he adjusted himself. She cursed her
eyes for tracking the motions. "I'm a man, not an animal. I'll wait
as long it takes."

She worried it wouldn't take long at all. All
they'd shared telepathically swirled through her head, the memories
heating her body to unprecedented levels, sparkling along nerves
she hadn't known existed. She was at war with herself; her body
screaming to ignore logic, her logic calmly telling her body that
hormones could not be trusted.

Then her mother's voice slid into the
discussion reminding her there were things a girl didn't do if she
wasn't ready for the consequences. And a girl wasn't ready until
she was a married woman.

Kelly could never be married. Not when she
was the last guardian in her generation. She had to hold the line
until Daniel and the others could help. Of course right here, right
now in this moment, there was nothing to guard. That sounded like
logic, but recognizing her flawed thinking, she blamed hormones and
scooted back to the main room.

Nathan was behaving honorably, a factor that
made the attraction all the more difficult.

"Talk to me, please?"

She didn't miss the note of concern, but how
did she say that sleeping with her was tantamount to marriage? Even
if he wanted marriage, a life with her equaled solitude.

They both knew he would need more. He thrived
on the challenge of a mission. Diverse interaction and variety were
as necessary for him as breathing fresh air.

"I want you so much." The words burst from
her mouth; her hands clapping over her lips were too little too
late.

To his credit, his advance stopped short of
physical contact. "I scare you."

She nodded, the only response she could
muster as he took her hand and settled her on the sofa. She
pretended not to notice the way he walked through her space,
opening all three of the small windows.

"I did wire in security." He just smiled at
her. "Really, I did. The monitor's there." She pointed to what
looked like a bread box and watched him slide open the door and
pull out the compact keyboard. Unfolding it, she saw him pause,
tipping his head. He smiled as he entered a flurry of commands.

"I set a perimeter scan," he explained.

"Oh. Good." What witty conversation. "Umm. We
should talk about how to get the map box back."

"No point." He stood in front of her. Dark
broody eyes, broad shoulders, long legs, and…she ripped her gaze
back to his face. "We can make a plan tomorrow."

She had a feeling tomorrow would be too late.
Rational thought might be out of her reach forever if he stayed
with her.

He sat down and weaved his fingers with hers.
"Remember that last time before they dropped me in the hole?" he
asked. A seductive grin tipped his lips.

She wondered how many hours of practice he'd
put in perfecting that look, wondered if he knew exactly what
firestorms the expression caused. He was telepathic, how could he
not?

"Stop over thinking every breath."

"You promised to stay out of my head."

"Telepathy isn't a requirement with that
expression on your face. And it isn't a one way ride. Other than
Petra, no other woman has heard me like you have."

He called her 'woman'. Her internal campfire
was growing into an epic bonfire.

"Or shared herself like you have."

He leaned closer. She scooted away. The
process repeated until she was pinned between him and the armrest.
He stretched an arm across the back of the sofa, his other hand
still liked with hers.

She should feel cornered…instead she
felt…excited.

Her whole body thrummed with an awareness
she'd never known, yet recognized as her right. Logic was
indignant. She shifted, leaning close, inordinately satisfied by
his soft gasp. Reaching up, she caressed Nathan's shoulders with
her palms and told logic to take a hike. As her hands coasted down,
that bonfire ignited like nothing she'd known before. Her body
moved on instinct, her mind soaking up the sensations.

She could do, would do, this much and savor
every moment.

His lips were warm, firm, and willing to part
for her continued exploration. She thought of their mental play as
a shadow of their first real kiss on the roadside. This exchange
muted even that intense moment. Nothing could compare to the
shimmering heat, the need and craving coursing through her
veins.

Craving for him.

She moaned as his hand drifted through her
hair, lifting the heavy mass from her neck, fingers kneading
softly. Her fingers roamed across his chest, she wanted inside that
shirt, wanted to feel the muscle, to see and touch and
know
what was there. She fumbled at the first button, lost her patience,
and just ripped it wide.

The kiss broke as he stared at her, clearly
not unhappy. With her eyes and her hands she memorized every inch
of terrain that was his torso. This insatiable need, this wanton
side of herself, was what she'd feared in their telepathic
encounters.