Sleep tugged at her until she gave in, surrounded by Cal’s warmth.
Brrring, brrring, brrring!
Cal bolted out of bed. Lana shot to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. A glance at the clock showed they had only been asleep for twenty minutes. The shrill alarm continued. Cal was yanking on his jeans.
“What’s going on?” She clasped the covers to her chest and stood.
Speakers crackled overhead. “This is not a drill, please exit the building. Repeat, this is not a drill.”
“Fire alarm.” Cal yanked a long-sleeved shirt on. “Get dressed—and stay here.” He came to her then, pressed a hot, firm kiss to her lips, and turned away. She reached for him, but her hand closed around air.
“Wait”—she scrambled to find her clothes—“I’m coming with you.” The alarm echoed through the room, piercing her ears. She dropped the blanket and pulled her clothes on.
Cal opened the bedroom door. “I’ll be right back, babe. Stay here.” His voice was stern and unwavering.
He closed the bedroom door behind him.
Chapter 13
Cal believed in coincidences as much as he expected pigs to fly. A fire in the hotel they were staying at, hours after he had tracked down the name of the person who’d invested in Lana’s murder, was not a coincidence.
He held the Glock at thigh level as he approached the door. He paused to look through the peephole. The bright lights showed nothing but the hallway. His fingers slid the cool metal chain, unlocking the door. He opened it and stepped out, keeping his gun drawn but out of sight. To his left, a few people were exiting their rooms; to his right, an older couple hovered in the doorway as he did. In the hall, the alarm was deafening.
They needed to get the hell out. When he shut the door and turned, his body slammed into Lana’s much softer one. He hadn’t heard her approach over the constant blare of noise through the speakers.
“I told you to wait,” he said, as if reminding her would send her back. Whoever had started the fire could be on their floor now, looking for them. He could protect her a hell of a lot better if she wasn’t right beside him.
Her lips pursed. “You left. I didn’t know where you were going.”
“You should know I wouldn’t leave you. We have to move, now.” He was glad to see she was fully dressed in the clothes she’d worn before he had left, plus one of his sweaters. He slipped his shoes on and passed her hers. “I need you to promise you’ll do exactly as I say.”
Her eyes rounded. “You don’t think this has anything to do with me, do you?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind.” He shoved his Glock into the waistband of his pants. His mind shifted gears. He couldn’t worry about anything right now except getting her out safely.
“Hold on to me, stay right behind me, and keep your face down.” He pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her hair. She nodded, her eyes dark with worry. He took her hand. Her soft, cool fingers jolted him. She wasn’t trained like he was. She was vulnerable—and a fucking target.
He looked out the peephole again. This time he saw people racing hurriedly down the hall to the stairwell. He opened the door and stepped out, scanning the floor both ways before leading Lana after him.
“Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand.” He raised his voice over the shriek of the alarm. Her fingers tightened in response. Once they reached the stairwell, people would be frantic, and a tight space filled with scared people was dangerous.
He ushered them down the hall, weaving around people with big eyes, shouting to their family members and children. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lana hesitate, wanting to stop and help. He gave a light tug to her hand and shoved open the stairwell door.
People swarmed, herding down from the twenty stories above them. They were on the eighth floor. Lana’s hand stiffened in his. Her other hand grasped his elbow. He led them into the crowd and down the stairs. The elevators would be shut down. The only way their pursuers would be able to reach them would be by stairs. There were two main stairwells on either side of the building. They would be searching both.
“Gun—he’s got a gun!” A woman’s terrified scream echoed throughout the stairwell, rivaling the alarm. He looked up at the flights of stairs. A few floors above, another woman screamed. People flocked, shoving each other out of the way. Cal’s eyes landed on a bulky man dressed in black, a knitted black mask over his face.
Cal’s pulse slowed.
The man’s eyes found Cal, then zeroed in on Lana. Cal’s brain moved into overdrive. He grabbed Lana, shoved her in front of him, and pushed people out of the way, barreling them down the stairs. Lana moved swiftly. Her hand gripped his like a vise. A glance upward showed that the predator was only a couple floors up.
Cal had to take him out.
At the next floor, Cal opened the door and shoved Lana into the hallway. He held tight to the metal handle blocking the jaws to the stairs, and faced her. Her face was pale, her blue eyes hauntingly sharp in contrast to her white skin. “You need to run.”
Her breath sucked in, and she shook her head firmly. “No, you said to stay with you.”
“Lana, don’t argue. Run down the hall, stop at the ice machine, there will be an inlet. Wait for me there. I need to get rid of this guy.”
She swallowed. Screams pierced the air. He was close.
“Go!”
She turned and ran. Her hair flew out around her like a parachute. The door yanked beneath his grasp. He gripped tighter. The person on the other end jerked on the door with determination. A fist slammed into it next. A look over his shoulder showed Lana slowing as she rounded the corner to the ice machine inlet.
This motherfucker was going down.
Fury burned in his stomach. He let go of the handle and the door opened. Cal stepped back and shot his foot out, catching the man in the chest. He flew back into the hall. People screamed and leaped over him. Cal grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back onto the floor. The door slammed behind him. The man wheezed and struggled for breath. Cal seized his weapon and turned it on him. With his free hand, he pulled his mask off.
Dark, curly hair pasted to his forehead and scalp.
He shoved the gun into his neck. “Who hired you?” His voice was cold, void of emotion. Cal’s pulse beat steadily in his throat.
The man stiffened but remained silent.
“I’ll blow your head off without blinking an eye. Now, tell me.”
He licked his lips. “His name is Will. I don’t know his last name.”
Good enough. Cal slammed the butt of the gun into the man’s temple. His head snapped to the side and his lights went out.
“Cal!” Lana’s scream spilt the air, cutting through him with the sharpness of a razor blade. He jerked his head up. A man had her back pressed to his chest, an arm locked across her throat. He held the barrel of a gun pressed to the delicate spot at her temple.
His heart slammed into his chest. His breath hung in the air. Lana’s creamy face turned gray. Her hand clawed at the black-clothed arm that held her, her toes barely touched the ground. His blood turned to ice.
He charged.
The man’s cold, dead eyes found Cal’s through the cutout holes of his mask. “One more move and she’s dead.” He began stepping backward, heading for the other exit at the end of the hall. Cal froze. The man’s eyes never left his face. If he so much as raised his gun, the man could get a shot off in a millisecond, putting a bullet in her head before he could even fire.
Lana’s eyes flew to his. Her lips firmed. From here, he could see her temper flare. His stomach flipped over.
No, no, no.
In one swift movement, she threw herself back against the man, then forward. It was just enough to throw his step off with the need to reposition her. She wriggled her arm away and slammed her elbow into his stomac
h.
“Get down!” Cal bellowed. She threw herself to the floor. Cal fired. Two bullets ripped through the air. The first bullet took out the man’s knee. The second hit him in the throat.
Cal tore down the hall. Lana lay unmoving against the wall, her head down. “Lana,” he breathed as he dropped to her side. She pushed herself to her knees. He pulled her against him. His chest constricted. He could have lost her. In one moment, she could have been dead. One wrong move, had one thing gone differently, had she not fought back… Every scenario flashed through his mind. He dropped his face to her hair. His arms locked tighter around her.
“Cal.” Her voice was small, strained.
He pulled her away to search her over. “Are you okay, baby?”
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
He cupped her face. “You scared the hell out of me.” He smothered the bite in his voice. How could he be mad when she was the one who’d given him the opportunity to shoot the sonofabitch? “Good job, honey.” A small smile flitted through her glossy eyes. “Let’s go. Don’t look down at him, okay? He’s dead.”
Eyes huge and somber, she swallowed and let him pull her to her feet. He kept her tight against his side and moved past the dead body and the pools of blood that soaked into the oriental rug.
The other stairwell was clear other than the odd straggler. After three more flights, they made it to the basement. Cal kept Lana hidden in the safety of the stairwell while he opened the door to the Parkade. He scanned the parked cars, looking for signs of a threat. It was still.
His hand reached for hers and he pulled her after him, keeping her close. She hadn’t said another word. His jaw worked. He hated that she’d been exposed to that. Now she’d seen him murder someone without batting an eye. For him, this was normal. For her, all sense of normalcy had been shattered. There was no weight on his conscience over the man’s death. Those days of remorse had long since passed.
He hustled them through the parked cars, and stopped when he reached his truck. With Lana’s hand still snug in his, he opened the passenger door and lifted her in.
“Cal, I can get in myself.” She took the seat belt from his hand and secured it. Her chin lifted. Shadows lined her eyes, but she sharpened her gaze on him. “I’m fine.”
She was tough. Her hands twisted in her lap, belying her words. Admiration swelled in his chest. “That’s my girl.” He pressed a kiss to her pouty lips, shut the door, and went around to the driver’s side. He had to get them out of there. Although he hadn’t smelt smoke, that didn’t mean there hadn’t been a fire. Will’s men could have pulled the fire alarm, but Cal suspected they would more likely have started one as a distraction. One man was down, but Cal hadn’t had the chance to take care of the other.
His hands gripped the steering wheel as he eased them out onto the street.
“Are you okay?” He turned to her. The hood still shielded her face, her legs now tucked beneath her.
“Yes.” Her voice wavered. “Are you?” Her hand closed around his elbow.
Was he? No one had ever asked him that before. He took her fingers in his hand. God, she was so sweet. “Of course, honey. I’m used to this stuff. You’re not, though.”
“You might be used to it, but you seem different, rattled.”
Rattled. That was a damn understatement. Yeah, he was used to violence. He was used to killing people without blinking an eye. He wasn’t used to a gun being pressed to a woman’s temple. And not just any woman…but Lana. The way her eyes had darkened in her white face was an image that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Stark fear had etched the fine lines of her face, the look of death at her door. He made a fierce vow that he would never allow her to be in that position again.
“I’m fine. It’s just adrenaline. It will pass.” Not that he would ever fully recover from almost losing her. A vise closed around his heart. In those moments, his world had crashed around him. The thundering of his blood had been deafening. All he could see was her face, and all he could think was that he couldn’t live without her.
Her fingers squeezed his. She was reassuring him? “Where are we going to go now?”
Good question. He navigated the dark streets lazily, staying off the main avenues of travel. “We need to get off the road. I don’t want to take any chances until I get my hands on Will.” His fingers itched on the steering wheel. That sonofabitch would have a much worse fate than Stamos.
“Who’s Will?”
“The man who hired Stamos. I’m suspecting he’s just another middle person, but someone hired him and I’m going to find out who.”
Lana shifted in her seat. “Where are we going to go? It’s almost two a.m.”
“Nate is an early riser. He’ll be up in a few hours. But it wouldn’t hurt for us to pull over somewhere and close our eyes until then.” Nate wouldn’t mind if they showed up at his door now, but if he started talking about everything that had gone down at the hotel, he would feel the need to track down Will immediately. And as much as he wanted to do that, they both needed some sleep. “I know a secluded place we can park near the beach. This time of year, we won’t have to worry about the high school kids who like to party there.”
Lana’s hand covered her mouth on a yawn. “I am quite tired. I wouldn’t mind resting.”
“We’re not far, about ten minutes. Why don’t you recline and close your eyes?”
She fumbled for the lever and the seat stretched back. Her legs curled up tightly on the seat. Cal kept his eyes on the road. Who the hell was he kidding? He wouldn’t be able to sleep. His mind kept turning, churning up possibilities and suspects. It was Tuesday now. In a few hours, Nate would be able to follow up with the background checks on the list of people Lana had given him. His gut told him he was missing something—a piece of the puzzle. The answer was right under his nose, he could smell it. Maybe he needed to question her more, but not now. Her breathing slowed. One glance at her made the tension in his shoulders ease. She looked so comfortable. He loved sleeping with her. More than he should.
A few minutes later, he pulled down a long gravel road and into the deserted beach’s parking lot. A few lone streetlights scattered the parking lot. He parked at the far end, nearest the trees, where they were shrouded in darkness. When he turned the engine off, Lana stirred and sat up.
“Go back to sleep, babe. I’m just getting out to get some blankets from the back.”
“You have blankets?”
“Yeah. I keep an emergency bag with food, water, blankets, and extra clothes. Do you need anything?”
“A blanket would be nice.”
“Sure thing.” He slid out and opened the rear driver’s side door. From the bag he kept beneath the back seat, he took out a blanket and a couple of sweaters for pillows.
Lana turned to him when he climbed back in the driver’s seat. “You can’t sleep there. You won’t have any room with the steering wheel and pedals. Switch seats with me.”
She was right. Even with the seat fully reclined, he wouldn’t be able to move his knees or stretch out his legs. “I have a better idea. How about I sleep in the passenger seat and you sleep on top of me?”
A small smile touched her lips and warmed her tired eyes. “Okay.”
Once they moved around, she settled on his lap. A sweater pillowed under his head, and a blanket covered their bodies, keeping the heat in. It was tight with both of them in one seat, but her ass nestled on the side of his thigh, her side tucked between his arms, and her face rested on his chest. He exhaled a pent-up breath. Just the feel of her smaller, lithe body against his released his tension—most of it. His dick still throbbed, but only one kind of a release would cure that. The soft beating of her heart slowed his to a normal rate.
She was good for him.
Admitting that to himself put a hole in his gut. How had he let his guard down? He hadn’t. Lana ha
d wriggled her way into his heart, and there was no turning back.
“Cal?” Her voice, filled with trepidation, cut through the silence of the night.
Beneath the blanket, he stroked his hand over her hip. “Mmm?”
“Are you sleeping?”
He let out a breathy chuckle. “I’m not now, no.”
Silence. Then, “Oh, sorry.”
“I’m teasing, honey. What’s on your mind?” His hand came up to smooth her hair back. She lifted her head to look down at him. Her teeth nipped into her bottom lip. On a deep breath, as if she’d been working up the courage, she straddled him.
His rock-hard dick grew another inch. Christ.
Her tongue, small and pink, wet her lips.
“I want you again.” Her voice shook, but her face never wavered. Her eyes burned into him. She nestled comfortably on top of him, her apex lined up directly with his crotch. Her mouth crushed to his, her tongue licking his lips open, urging him. His hands found her ass and squeezed, then caressed.
She moaned, spread her knees wider, and rocked against him. Sonofabitch, he was going to blow any minute.
He pulled his lips away. “Sorry, babe.” His body pulsed. Need sharpened every atom in his body. “I don’t have a condom.”
Her lips parted, then clamped shut with disappointment. “Oh.” She groaned and dropped back to where she’d been cuddled. “I didn’t even think of that.”
“It’s okay.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Rest now.” Why in the hell did he not carry condoms on him?
She nodded. Her cheek pillowed on her hand.
His hand drew lazy circles over her hip, then slid down to trace the gentle curves of her incredible ass. God, he loved how she’d just come on to him. How did he have everything else in his extra bag but fucking condoms? Because he’d never expected to be stranded like this with a woman, that’s how.
When his fingers slid over the smooth cotton of her leggings to touch her delicate folds from behind, she stiffened.
He felt her heart rate hammering against his side. He continued to gently tease and play, stroking and rubbing against her.
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