Nick’s hands locked on to her waist and eased her descent. Her feet touched uneven ground, but he didn’t let go immediately. They stood there, staring at each other, and Isabel was caught by the moment. Tension shivered through her and she didn’t hurry to pull away. Thoughts about another night together sped up her pulse. She tried telling herself that her racing heartbeat was due to excitement at getting a step closer to her sister.
Then why did her knees seem to melt? And why did she sway toward Nick until his head lowered and his mouth loomed close enough to kiss.
Kiss!
Suddenly panicked, Isabel froze. She didn’t want to kiss Nick. Didn’t want to fool herself. She knew where she stood with him. Knew what he must think of her for agreeing to his damn deal.
But when his lips touched hers, she couldn’t pull away. She didn’t want to. She slipped her arms up around his neck and gave in to her true desires, if only for a moment.
Closing her eyes, she once again envisioned them locked in a hot, naked embrace, just as if she were watching a video of the act….
His front against her back, he wrapped one arm securely around her waist and held her pinned onto his length. And as she rocked, his free hand found her breasts, coaxing her nipples into turgid peaks.
The erotic moment stretched into two and Nick’s hands slid down to lower, more dangerous territory. Already beating too fast, her heart went into over-drive, and before she lost her mind altogether, she tried to salvage some of her common sense.
Tearing away from him, she gasped and said, “It shouldn’t be much farther.”
Night was here and she knew what was coming. Her body was more than ready, but they weren’t through searching for Louise. She had to get her mind on something other than sex.
Her lips and other parts of her still tingling from the encounter, she quickly headed toward the dark blob a short distance away. As she walked, she pictured being reunited with her sister and clung to that image a if it were an anchor.
Thunder rolled and lightning forked the sky, illuminating the area ahead enough to see the dark blob turn into a small wooden structure with a flat corrugated metal roof. That had to be it!
Pulse pounding, Isabel quickened her step and unhooked the Maglite from her belt loop.
Be here, Lulu. Just please be here.
But when they drew closer and she called out, “Louise, are you inside?” no answering voice called back.
Isabel stopped in her tracks and faced the truth—another dead end.
“Aren’t we going to check inside?” Nick asked.
She shrugged. “Since we’re here, I suppose.”
Raindrops splashing against her nose told her that if she didn’t go inside, she would soon be soaked.
A step up took them to a door that opened with a rusty-hinged protest. Isabel flashed her light around. The small, low-ceilinged room with a single window on each side didn’t look too bad. What appeared to be railroad ties were set out like a bench against the back wall, a city newspaper and crumpled bag before it.
“Fast food,” Isabel murmured, able to smell the lingering odor.
Stooping, she checked the leavings that seemed fairly new and noted the logo on the paper bag. “From Louise’s favorite fast-food place.”
“Maybe we’re closing in on her.”
She picked up the newspaper and checked the date. “If she was here, it wasn’t today. This paper is two days old.” A patch of something white on the floor caught her eye. “What’s that?” She picked up a scrap of paper. “A phone number.” She flashed it at Nick, who took a good look but didn’t comment. Then she stared at the plain block letters herself. “Louise could have written this. Thank heaven for cell phones.” Hope renewed, she pulled hers from her pocket.
“You’re going to call a number you found on the ground?”
“What can it hurt?”
Nick shrugged and sat back, but Isabel could feel his eyes on her as she punched in the number with a finger that trembled with excitement. Maybe this would be it, she thought, praying it would be. Two rings and there was an answer.
“Humboldt House” came the response, the voice female and light as if the speaker were young.
Her pulse trilled. “Uh, this is a shelter for teens, right?”
“Are you in trouble?”
“My sister, Louise,” Isabel said breathlessly. “Lulu. Tall, pretty, long blond hair—”
“Who gave you this number?”
Isabel couldn’t think quickly enough about what the right answer might be, so she tried the truth. “I, um, sort of found it. I think Louise dropped it and—”
“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t be calling here.”
A determined click brought the conversation—and her raised hopes—to an abrupt end.
“She hung up!” Isabel said incredulously, now convinced by the stir she’d caused that Humboldt House was indeed a runaway shelter.
“What did you expect?”
“Help, of course.”
“A shelter does give help—to the victim.”
“I’m not the reason she ran,” Isabel said, hitting Redial.
“They don’t know that.”
Of course Nick made sense, she thought as the phone rang and rang. “Why doesn’t someone answer?”
“Caller ID. I doubt they’ll be taking your calls.”
Frustration drove her to try again. She dialed a reverse directory and when the operator responded, said, “Yes. I need an address, probably in the Humboldt Park area. It’s a shelter called Humboldt House.” She read off the phone number.
Anxious for this new lead to pan out, Isabel fidgeted. A glance at Nick told her his gaze was focused on her, and her body warmed as if he were touching it.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the operator said. “But that address is not available.”
“What? Wait a minute!”
“Do you have another number?”
“No, but—”
“Then I’m sorry I couldn’t help you today. Please try us again.”
Closing her eyes in defeat, Isabel clicked off the phone and muttered, “The address is blocked.”
“For the protection of the kids they’re sheltering.” Nick slid closer.
Trying not to be unnerved by his shoulder pressing against hers, she asked, “You know about Humboldt House?”
He hesitated only a moment before saying, “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“What good would it have done if I couldn’t provide you with the address?”
She nodded. “Maybe if we combed the neighborhood…”
“You think they advertise? Put a big sign outside?”
Isabel’s insides felt twisted by the disappointment, and for the first time, she really wondered if she would ever find Louise. She couldn’t think about her chances so negatively or it would drive her crazy.
Suddenly aware of a steady thrum beating at the corrugated-steel roofing, she said, “Uh-oh, it’s raining really hard now.”
“So we’ll stay until it stops.”
If it even did, Isabel thought, considering that the rain might keep up all night. “And then what?”
“We can go back to the abandoned building.”
True. At least that one had running water. But so did they—it just happened to be outside. Unfortunately, the storm didn’t sound as if it would be stopping anytime soon.
Great. They were stuck.
“If only I had a towel, I could get that shower out in the rain,” she joked, longing for the amenities buried in her backpack and cursing the jerk who’d stolen it.
“Who needs a towel?” Nick asked. “It’s summer. You can air dry.”
“You mean waltz around naked? I’m not here for your entertainment.”
“Funny, I thought you were.”
Though he said it lightly, as if he were joking, heat shimmered through her as she remembered what Nick expected of her in exchange for his help.
> She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Stuck at the back of her mind all day had been the knowledge that another night was racing closer with each hour that passed. She’d even pictured it so vividly she’d felt it. Trying to ignore it had given her temporary respite, but thoughts of her and Nick tangled together kept intruding more insistently, and now she was faced with the moment…
She shuddered with anticipation.
“Cold?” Nick asked, slipping an arm around her back and leaning in closer.
Lightning hit nearby, illuminating the shed. His features were taut and he was staring at her mouth.
“Maybe we should stretch out,” he said, taking the Maglite from her and snapping it on. He ran the beam over the floor. “The good news is it’s dry.” He picked up the newspaper, opened the thick section and spread it sheet by sheet over a section of floor. “And now it’s clean.”
Taking the light from him, Isabel snapped it off and sat. She sensed more than saw Nick join her and lie back. They couldn’t fully undress here. She knew that. But he would expect…well, she knew what he expected. Meeting those expectations would allow her not to think about other things for a while.
Before Isabel could so much as stretch out on her own, Nick had pulled her into his arms. Her head landed on his chest and she could hear the quick but steady beat of his heart. Her pulse was quickening, as well, and warmth spread through her as fast as a locomotive.
Railroad shed…locomotive… She snickered.
“Excuse me?” he whispered, his voice low and thick.
“Private joke.”
“If you feel like letting me in, I’m eager,” he said with a barely discernible smile.
She just bet he was. The play on words made her mind spin with uninvited images. And the more she thought about it…
“Is it hot in here,” she murmured, “or is it just me?”
“You’re hot, all right.” This time they both laughed, and Nick slid down so they were face-to-face. “I always loved your laugh.”
“You made me laugh more than anyone I’ve ever known. I’ve missed that,” she admitted.
“What else have you missed?” he asked lightly.
Isabel’s eyes fluttered closed. She’d missed everything about him. And when she felt his lips nudge hers, she thought maybe she’d missed that most of all—his kissing her. This kiss was slow and wet and she let herself drown in it. Time slipped away and she was a teenager again, experiencing the joy of love for the first time.
And when his hand captured her breast and held it gently, that, too, rushed her back to another time—safer, more innocent—when the future with its amazing possibilities was spread out before them. She wanted to lose herself in the past, even if just for a night.
When his lips left hers, she touched his face gently. Remembering the first time she’d almost lost her virginity, she scooted in the opposite direction, so that her legs lay along his head.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“What I know you’ll like,” she said, quickly unsnapping and unzipping his jeans.
“Isabel…”
“Do you want me to talk?” she asked, sliding a hand inside the opening. She found him through the briefs, then dipped her hand under that layer, too, until she found his heat. “Or do you want this?”
Nick groaned in answer as she clung to him with one hand while using the other to remove the impediments. Then he was exposed to her gaze, but not for long. Moistening her lips, she trailed them down his hardening length, then back up to the tip. She licked his head, sucked it, took it deeper.
“Isabel,” Nick whispered, reaching for her.
Working her way back down his erection, she was aware of his hands on her. He was opening her jeans, slipping them down over her hips. The next thing she felt was warmth at her center through the material of her panties. She wondered if he remembered doing this before as clearly as she did—breathing through the panties so that she arched toward him…kissing her there, until she spread her thighs…invading her more deeply.
Riding her mouth, he sucked her through the thin material. Sensation flooded her and she imagined he was inside her. Realized he would be soon. His fingers hiked under the panties, where he stroked and probed, opening her to him.
Wishing he were truly inside her, she relaxed the back of her throat and took him deeper, trying to take all of him. He pushed her panties aside and tongued her so that she rocked her hips and teased his mouth.
Isabel hardly knew how he managed it, but Nick turned her so that she was spread more directly over him and he had more open access. He tugged her jeans down to her knees. And then her panties. The moment his finger slid inside her, she was ready to come.
The touch of his tongue against her clit drove her to new heights and she relaxed the back of her throat and finally took him all in. He did the same, covering her completely with his mouth. Isabel gasped and came up for air but immediately took him in again. She wanted him, wanted him now. She rocked against his mouth while he arched into hers.
Within seconds, she felt the pulsing begin. His. Hers. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure of the hot come shooting down her throat, and in her own orgasm that seemed to go on forever.
And when it ended and Isabel collapsed on her side, Nick pulled her up toward him. Still tasting him, she closed her eyes and admitted to herself that she wanted more.
More sex.
Just more.
That was the danger, the thing she’d been secretly dreading. What if there wasn’t more? What if this was all she would ever have of him?
So what did that make her? she wondered. What kind of woman traded sex for favors when she wanted something more?
And that something was the one thing she would never ask for. Probably never get. Certainly not from Nick. Maybe not from anyone but her little sister.
There were various words she could use to describe that missing something, but the one that kept coming back to her was the most dangerous, the scariest of them all…
Love.
10
“THE RAIN FINALLY STOPPED,” Nick told Isabel the moment she opened her eyes the next morning. He’d been awake for hours watching her, and with his thoughts all stirred up, his mood had turned sour and he was impatient to move on. “We can get out of here anytime. Just say the word.”
“Good morning to you, too,” she croaked. “Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”
“Something like that.”
Rather, the wrong side of Isabel.
The sex had been hard and fast, and though he’d come, it hadn’t been satisfying in the way he wanted it to be.
In the middle of the night while she’d slept the sleep of the exhausted, he’d spooned her, he’d touched her soft places, smelled her hair, longed for her to…well, longed for something he doubted he would ever have with her.
And the guilt at what he’d coerced her to do—whether or not he’d meant to do it—was eating at him. He’d spent the last hour agonizing over it.
Isabel yawned and stretched. Her hair was a bird’s nest, her clothes disheveled, her face puffy with sleep. And yet he thought her the most beautiful mess he’d ever seen.
“Isabel, I think we should call this quits. I’ll see you home and—”
“No! You can’t!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find Louise for you,” he said.
Her forehead furrowed. “What?”
“I’ll do it. I promise.”
Isabel’s visage lightened, and certain that she would be relieved, Nick was surprised when she shook her head.
“I appreciate the offer,” she said, “but we’re going to find her together.”
“What? You don’t trust me?”
“I want to finish what we started.” She licked her lips as she always did when she was nervous. “I, uh, was thinking that maybe my seeing this through to the finish would give me what I need. Um, I was hoping I could actually do something posit
ive with what I’ve learned.” Quickly, she added, “And don’t you dare laugh.”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said, wondering what she was getting at.
“Being out on the streets just for a short while has been eye-opening—and gut-wrenching, too. If I could make other people feel that way, I mean, let them see what it’s like through my eyes…”
“You mean write about this.”
She nodded. “Stupid?”
He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. Then he smiled. “That’s great. Really great.”
And then another great thing happened. They were smiling at each other, and in that second, the unexpected connection wiped out the gloom of the morning.
“Then it’s settled,” Isabel said. “I stick with you until we find Louise. Together.” She poked at her bird’s nest and groused, “Of all the things I had in my backpack, the things I miss most are my comb and my toothbrush.”
“We’ll stop at a drugstore so you can replace them.”
“Good. What about you?”
“I have a toothbrush in my pocket. The fold-up kind like you take on camping trips.” Not that he’d ever been on an actual camping trip. His “camp-outs” had never been of the traditional variety. “If you can’t wait, I’d be happy to lend it to you.”
“I can hang on a little while longer. I never imagined it would seem like a luxury to brush my teeth. Or shower,” she said pointedly.
“All right.” He checked his watch to make sure they had time to make it. “If you really want a shower, then a shower you shall have.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, shoving her billed cap back over the bird’s nest and leading the way out the door.
“ANOTHER PARK?” ISABEL ASKED, stopping dead in her tracks. Although they’d picked up a comb and toothbrush, she hadn’t had a morning cup of coffee and the lack of caffeine was making her irritable. “I thought we were going to get showers first thing.”
“We are.” Nick kept on, heading straight for the field house.
“I don’t understand,” she said, chasing after him.
Improper Conduct Page 12
