Chase

by Sidney Bristol

  “We believe he’s going to target some public event,” he said.

  “Or private. We can’t even track some of those. God damn it, I hate this.”

  He smiled at her use of profanity. Little more than twenty-four hours around him and he was already eroding her perfect little agent front. Success.

  “We have to stop him, and for your ‘street cred’ it needs to be something public. Something where you can make a lesson out of him.” She rubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes.

  “Let’s not worry about that right now. Stopping him needs to be our first priority.”

  “But if we don’t, you lose all the ground you’ve made on your undercover op.” She dropped her hand to her lap and curled her fingers around his.

  “True.” He liked the feel of her holding on to him.

  “Where are you with the Evers thing?” She turned to face him, crossing her legs and dismissing the Swiss file.

  “Nowhere, really. He’s vanished.”

  “That’s so hard to believe that someone with that much visibility would vanish. Someone’s covering for him. It really ticks me off how solid that case was. You had a slam dunk.” She frowned and he wanted to kiss the little creases around her mouth away, but held back.

  “All we can figure out is that there has to be another motive for why someone would want him out of prison.” Gabriel shrugged and packed up the tablet and file.

  “What are you doing?” Her frown deepened once more.

  “Nikki, it’s past three in the morning. I don’t know about you, but I hardly slept last night. Tonight was exhausting. If Wilson’s people were going to track us all down, we’d have heard about it, but it’s quiet. Last check-in, everyone else was bedded down for the night except us. Come on. We’re going to crash.” He held out his hand and waited for her to put hers in his.

  He wished he could offer her more. That he could lead her to his bed for hours of lovemaking, or lay her down in the lap of luxury. Too bad neither were options tonight.

  Instead, Gabriel led Nikki to the only bedroom with a bed in it. The safe houses weren’t outfitted with more than the bare essentials. They’d begun to set up more than the four they had before in the last three months, since the hit team. Already he was making a mental list of what they needed to add to the safe houses to make them more useful.

  Nikki stared at the bed. He could hear her brain working.

  “We can either both sleep in here or I can take the couch,” he offered. He wouldn’t impose on her if she wanted space. They were making huge leaps from barely speaking to . . . whatever they were to each other now.

  “You wouldn’t even fit on that couch. It’s tiny.” She unfastened her shorts and they hit the ground.

  He watched her crawl into the bed and scoot over next to the wall.

  She hadn’t told him to take a hike.

  Did he dare lie beside her?

  If he took the couch, he’d stare at the door all night.

  He removed his jeans, taking his time to allow her to get comfortable. Her bra sailed over the side of the bed, catching him off guard. He snagged the garment before he could think better of it. It was plain white material, sort of satiny and soft. She’d never been one for flashy clothes or panties, but that was because Nikki was constantly trying to camouflage what was inside.

  Gabriel set the bra on top of her shorts and put it out of his mind. He slid into the bed next to her and lay on his back, arms crossed under his head, not daring to move a muscle.

  He was exhausted.

  Too exhausted to sleep.

  The house settled into complete stillness, the only sound that from outside. The occasional car passing by. A plane overhead. The rustle of the palm trees and shrubbery as the evening breeze kicked up. It was quiet.

  And yet his brain buzzed with thoughts. The case. Nikki. What the hell was up with Roni. The changes in Aiden. His worry for where Julian was headed. John’s injury. If it wasn’t one topic, it was another his brain ricocheted between.

  Nikki rolled over onto her back. The clock on the nightstand told him all of ten minutes had passed.

  “I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

  “Me either.” Between their op and having her back in his life, it was hard to quiet his mind.

  “Do you like living in Miami?”

  “It’s all right.”

  “What’s your plan for when this job is done?”

  “Don’t know. Haven’t really thought about it. I came here for something to do, and I never ran out of stuff to do.”

  “Are you happy?”

  He paused, rolling that word around.

  “Some days,” he finally replied. “The rest I miss you.”

  Silence.

  Her hand groped for his under the sheets. He held it out and she curled her fingers around his.

  “I miss you, too,” she said, her voice small and quiet in the darkness.

  Was there hope? Could there be something for them together if they were just willing to work for it?

  “What do you want to do about it?” He was wide open to suggestions, but experience had taught him not to get his hopes up.

  “I don’t know. What can we do? You know I can’t leave the FBI, and you can’t come back.” She was talking in concrete facts, which was what Nikki understood best. There was no denying he wouldn’t go back to the FBI, but that wasn’t the only gig out there.

  “There’s other work I could do.” He rolled to his side, studying the lay of shadows across her face, the pale glint of light on her eyes.

  “You wouldn’t be happy. I moved into DC. It would kill you there.” Her lashes lowered, casting long shadows on her cheeks.

  She was right on that front. If he was going to wear her down and find a way to make it work, he had to be patient.

  “Ya know, I think we have enough problems right now. What if... what if we just take each day as it comes? This thing with Wilson could be a while sorting out. We can figure out what to do later when we cross that bridge.”

  Even in the darkness he could feel her frown. Of course she wouldn’t like a vague answer like that, but it was his best solution right now. If they agreed there was no option for him in her life, she’d close that door again, maybe to protect herself or him. He didn’t know. What he did know was that he wasn’t ready to lose her yet.

  “Come here.” He looped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, tucking her body alongside his. “There.”

  She covered his hand at her waist, pressing it closer.

  What if she was pregnant? He wouldn’t say it, but he could imagine her carrying his child. He’d always intended to leave undercover work behind, take up a boring job somewhere in the bureau that would be more conducive to family life. Or at least in his dreams that was what he wanted.

  Nikki turned in his arms until they were face-to-face. She lifted a hand to his jaw and traced it with her fingers.

  “There’s more scars,” she said.

  “They add character.”

  She pressed a kiss to the scar from a knife fight, then one from when he’d taken a swan dive off a building and busted his chin. Blood rushed to his groin. She’d kissed him earlier like she couldn’t get enough of him. He wanted that again. Now. But it wasn’t the right time.

  “You have to stop,” he said, though it killed him.

  “Did I do something wrong?” She was so earnest, and yet did he detect a slight tremble in her voice?

  “No, sweetheart. You knocked your head pretty hard twice today and I loaded you up on those pain pills. I don’t think you’re thinking clearly right now.”

  “On the contrary, I’m probably as lucid and coherent as I was earlier.” There was no question about which earlier she was referring to.

  “Earlier was pretty damn nice.”

  Nikki ducked her head, hiding her face against his chest and the mattress. He’d enjoyed the hell out of coaxing her into embracing her sexuality the first time. If she’d
let him do it again, fuck. It was even worth putting a little of himself on the line.

  “It might be better than I remember it. Except that one time at Padre Island.” He whistled. “That was . . . well, you were there.”

  She said something into the mattress he didn’t understand.

  “What was that?” He chuckled.

  “Shut up,” she said clearer.

  “What? I can’t talk about the sex we had?”

  “No. Not right now.” She pushed at his shoulder and turned her back on hm.

  “Why not?” He leaned over her, peering at her face, fully enjoying himself.

  “Because.”

  “Because why?” He wrapped an arm around her and she squirmed in his hold.

  “Because . . . if we aren’t going to do it, I want to stop thinking about it, or I’ll never go to sleep.”

  “I’m sorry, but what is it?” She thought about it, too? That was the best news he’d heard all day. Well, except for her saying yes earlier.

  “Sex.” She smacked his shoulder. “You’re teasing me. Stop.”

  “It’s fun to tease you.” He caught her hand and kissed it.

  Gabriel bent his head and pressed his lips to her cheek. She turned toward him and their mouths met. He kept it brief so he could uphold his promise to himself. She really did need to rest.

  “If I agree to this go with the flow plan of yours, what does that mean?” Even in the darkness he could feel her shrewd gaze.

  “What do you want it to mean?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what I’m asking.” The frustrated notes were there, telling him she needed more.

  “If you feel like kissing me, kiss me. If you want sex, tell me.”

  She was quiet a moment. Did she want less? More?

  “So it’s just a sex thing?” The shadows were too dark to read her expression, and her tone was carefully under control again.

  “No, we’ll spend time together, too.”

  “Are you seeing someone?”

  “What? No.” He trailed his fingers over her face and gently stroked the tendrils of hair clinging to her cheek. “I haven’t been with anyone else in a long time. I just haven’t been interested. This is just between us. And if you need something else, let me know.”

  “Why do you still want me? After I turned my back on you?”

  “It took two of us to be in a relationship, and it took both of us to destroy it. Neither of us were blameless. I can’t forget the good times we had. For me, they outweigh any bad there was. I’d like to think that now it might be even better if we give ourselves half a shot. What do you say?”

  For several long, agonizing seconds she didn’t say anything.

  “Okay . . . But—we need protection.”

  “Already on it.” He kissed her once more, a quick peck on the lips, and settled his head on the pillow. “What else do you want?”

  “You’re terrible.” She pushed at his shoulder and turned her back on him, but he spooned her close and was rewarded with a kiss on his arm.

  He might be terrible, but she wanted him.

  Tonight, he’d hold her. Tomorrow, well, he hoped they had a little downtime, because he had a list of things he wanted to do to her all over again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nikki sat on the cool tile floor with the sofa to her back, but she couldn’t read a word on the tablet in front of her. The bed squeaked in the other room and Gabriel groaned. It wasn’t one of his nighttime sounds. It was that I just woke up and don’t want to be awake groan. At one point she’d catalogued things like that. She’d made a study of him, the way he moved, how he ate. They were all her treasures. Their private moments captured in memory for her to savor when he wasn’t around.

  Except he was here now, and she was getting reacquainted with everything to do with him again.

  Last night she’d slept the sleep of the dead, wrapped in his arms. Of course, it had only lasted a few hours before her mental alarm kicked her out of bed and back onto the job. She was glad for the short period of quiet she’d gotten to herself, because Gabriel was nothing but a distraction.

  As if thinking of him summoned the man, Gabriel stepped out of the bedroom and leaned against the wall. His eyes were barely open and he’d only bothered to step into his jeans and pull them up. Fastening them seemed beyond him still. The front gaped open and his belt jangled as they hung precariously off his hips. Her mouth went dry remembering all the time she’d spent on that part of his anatomy. The groans from those episodes were particularly entertaining.

  “You’re up,” he mumbled.

  “Hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “No.” He shuffled toward the couch and, instead of sitting on the furniture, sank down to lounge next to her. His shoulder bumped hers and he buzzed her cheek with a quick kiss that froze her for a moment. “What have you gotten done?”

  She cleared her throat and flipped to the beginning of what Emery and Matt had sent her that morning.

  “I’ve got VA files on everyone we know about. Almost seventy-five percent have some sort of PTSD or psychological disorder. Wilson has a type.” She handed the tablet to Gabriel.

  “Matt send you these?”

  “Yes. He’s very resourceful.”

  “I wish he wouldn’t be.” Gabriel scrubbed the side of his face.

  “Why?”

  “Because his mentor got busted for an Evers investigation that didn’t stick and Matt’s going to have a target on him for helping us. I wish we didn’t need him so bad.”

  “He wants to help and he knows the score.” Besides, Nikki had seen the way Roni didn’t look at Matt. Nikki was pretty sure she had pointedly avoided Gabriel just as much as the other woman shunned the detective.

  Nikki also hadn’t mentioned that the bag of clothes Matt provided them with included the rest of the clothes Roni had set aside for her, which meant Matt had more access to their team than Gabriel realized. Perhaps she needed to have a girl-to-girl chat with Roni about the dangers of dating on the job. If nothing else, someone who wasn’t emotionally invested needed to be keeping an eye on the detective for his own safety.

  “Talked to Emery or Aiden yet?” Gabriel asked, pulling her back to the moment.

  “We had a quick conference call earlier after Matt sent the stuff. John’s okay. Everyone was able to get somewhere. Worst injuries were some burns and scratches. John’s wasn’t that bad. Just some stitches. Matt was able to be on-site and says everything was destroyed, so there’s nothing to link it back to you guys. He’s going to keep an eye on it.”

  “We owe him.” Gabriel shook his head.

  “Yeah, well, I think he likes being one of the good guys doing something.” And being close to Roni.

  He pushed the tablet onto the coffee table and turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. For a moment he didn’t say anything, just looked at her. She often wondered what he saw, how she measured up in his eyes.

  “Sleep okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “How’s your head?”

  “Good. Doesn’t hurt. I’ll have a bit of a bruise, but I took some general painkillers earlier. None of that stuff from last night. You tricked me with that.”

  “Hey, you said it hurt bad, I gave you something to make that go away.” He grinned, completely unapologetic. “What’s our next move?”

  “Breakfast?” She was starving. The burgers hadn’t been enough to last.

  “Mmm.” His lids dropped to what she called his come hither look. At least when she got the chance to read a novel for fun and the men gave the heroines lustful stares, she imagined they were a lot like how Gabriel was studying her now.

  She swallowed and dug her nails into the tile, even as her body responded to him. All it took was a look from him and she was a goner. Her heartbeat increased, her skin felt tight, her breasts grew heavy, heat pooled low in her belly, and she didn’t care about being hungry.

  Gabriel leaned in and she held h
er breath. His lips closed around her bottom lip, his tongue caressing that bit of flesh. Heat waves swept her body. She turned toward him. After last night’s candid discussion, what reason did she have to hold back? There was little to no chance of this going anywhere, so she would enjoy him while she could.

  He cupped her face, forcing her head to tilt to the left, and deepened the kiss, licking into her mouth. She slid her palm down his chest, reveling in the feel of him, all that lean strength. For now, he was hers.

  His hand slid up under her T-shirt and cupped her breast. She arched her back into his palm, her nipples constricting and her sex throbbing with arousal.

  Hungry to horny in five seconds.

  That had to be a record.

  Gabriel lifted his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

  “What is it?” She battered down the stray thought that she’d done something wrong.

  “Condoms. I didn’t get any condoms.” He dropped his head to her shoulder.

  Nikki screamed inside.

  “Oh . . . well . . . there’s always later.” Unprotected sex again was out of the question. Once in the height of passion was forgivable, but right now she was in control.

  “I’ve got a better plan.” Gabriel pushed up to his knees.

  The way he said it, she wasn’t sure she was going to like this plan . . . or maybe the problem was that she’d like it too much...

  He grabbed her around the waist and tossed her up onto the couch. She gasped, unaccustomed to the way he manhandled her. There was something appealing about it, the way he was strong enough to throw her around and never hurt her.

  Gabriel leaned over her, pushing her down into the cushions with his weight. He cupped her face, holding her prisoner to his kisses. Not that she gave much protest. He stripped her of her shirt and held her gaze as he released the catch of her bra.

  The way he looked at her, she felt beautiful. It wasn’t a word she claimed often, but in these moments with Gabriel, she embraced how he saw her.

  He slid her bra off her arms and let it fall to the floor. She held her breath, waiting for what he would do next. He kissed her lips, her chin, and the dip of flesh above her collarbone. His fingers plucked her nipples, gently squeezing and lifting. She arched her back, moaning.