Identity--A Tale of Murder, Mystery and Romance

by H. D. Thomson

  “Then I have no clue who the father is.”

  Chapter 24

  “Jesus.” David reached across the console between the front seats, and with a shaky hand, cupped her jaw and caressed a thumb over a tear that had slipped onto her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Skye. All you’ve been through and now this. I just don’t understand how. Was the memory wiped out like our childhood ones?”

  “Yes. But looking back, I know now when it happened. I had been at a mall parking lot. I’d just closed the door, I think. My memory’s a bit fussy here, but I ran into someone by the car and almost fell. The man—I wouldn’t remember what he looked like now if my life depended on it—helped me up and that’s all I remember until I woke up in my car eight hours later. I saw a doctor that same week, thinking something was wrong with me, but the tests they took turned up normal.”

  David kissed her, a tender whisper of lips against her brow. “All this time you thought your ex was the father—”

  “But it doesn’t change a thing.” She pressed her face against his palm, weakening beneath his compassionate look and touch. Longing mushroomed with the urge to share her fears, her uncertainties with this man. “Tyler is still my son. Always will be. I’m going to find him, and I don’t care how I do it.”

  He slipped his hand from her cheek only to capture her own and twine his fingers between hers. He lifted their bound fist and kissed the back of her hand. The softness in his face shifted and hardened. Outrage simmered in the depths of David’s eyes. “I’ll kill the bastard who did this to you.”

  Before her resolve to stay strong completely shattered, she hurriedly tugged her hand from his grasp, unsnapped her seatbelt and slipped from the car.

  In the lobby, when he asked for one room Skye glanced sharply at him. He explained when they stepped from the lobby with two card keys. “I want you near me. I can’t be of any help if something happens and you’re somewhere else.”

  “And here I thought it was my stellar personality,” Skye joked, using humor to mask the sudden awkwardness engulfing her at the idea of sharing a room.

  “I have no complaints,” David responded in a dark, smoky voice. “Far from it. I wish to hell we’d have met years before, during a different time.”

  His unexpected honesty sent warmth rushing into her cheeks. Awareness danced across her senses as he led the way up a flight of stairs to the second floor and down the hallway to the right. The lift of his strong jaw, the sure, smooth stride of his walk, the erect line of his carriage spoke of a natural confidence Skye always wanted but never attained.

  The memory of the last time they’d been together in his bedroom stormed into her thoughts. David had been fierce, tender, hungry. He’d made her feel incredibly sexy, and—

  Skye didn’t dare go there. She needed her wits and uncompromising control over her emotions, and right now she was feeling far too raw. One look or touch from David and she was liable to turn into a needy, incoherent mess. She was still reeling at the idea of some strange, unidentified man being Tyler’s father. The thought sickened her no matter how much she told herself it didn’t matter.

  Lies. For years now. All this time she’d thought Jay the father of her child, but no longer.

  Why had this doctor picked her? Had he known of her powers, and had he conspired with Tyler’s biological father? Or were they the same man? Either way, this had been a deep secret until now. Why the change?

  “Why what?” David asked.

  Skye stiffened. “I hadn’t realized I was talking out loud.”

  David’s gaze narrowed, but he let her comment pass as he unlocked and opened their door. After flipping on the switch, he led the way into a sterile, functional hotel room with royal blue drapes bracketing the sliding glass door and matching comforters covering two queen beds. The room smelled stale and neglected even with the air-conditioner’s circulation.

  “I’m going to get something for us to drink and eat. Why don’t you get a bit of rest in the meantime? When I get back, we can come up with a plan.”

  Tension rippled across Skye’s spine. The room yawned back at her, empty and intimidating. She’d be alone with her thoughts, with only the television and two empty, lifeless beds as company. She didn’t want that time to think, to react, to—

  “Don’t,” she protested in a panicked voice as she turned and clutched David’s wrist.

  “What’s wrong?”

  With her hand still latched to his arm, she looked up and met the sharp intelligence of his brown eyes. She couldn’t handle being alone. Fear coated her mouth. She struggled for the right words, the ones that wouldn’t reveal just how vulnerable she felt. “I—I don’t... I want—”

  Skye needed him to ease the pain, the fear and uncertainty bombarding her. With shaking fingers, she released his wrist and swept a hand past his elbow to grip his upper arm. She took one step toward him until she felt the heat of his body and the whisper of his chest against her breast.

  “Say the words, Skye. I’m not going to touch you unless you say the words.” A dark flush stained the prominent line of his cheeks, while his eyes darkened to mahogany. Between the two beds, the lamp on the coffee table flickered. “Your pain. I want nothing more than to ease your hurt, but I don’t want you doing anything you’ll hate the next day. I don’t want regrets. Not when it comes to us.”

  “Dammit, David. You’re not making this easy for me.” She couldn’t look away from the intense heat in his eyes. Then she realized exposing her weaknesses in front of David didn’t much matter. Not at this point. He’d seen her at her worse far too many times, and right now with her life in shambles, pride seemed a wasted emotion.

  “All right. When you—” She cleared her throat. “It hurt when I left and you stayed in Vegas. More than I like to admit. And to have you with me again scares me, because it makes me realize I need you. I’ve let you into my heart more than any other man in a long while. You can make me forget everything but the moment, and I need you to let me forget just for a little while again. Please make the memories go away”

  “Shit, how the hell can I say no to you?” David slipped an arm around her waist and slowly, relentlessly urged her against him. From breast to knee, every hard, male and unyielding inch of him molded over her body. The intensity in his face, the tension radiating from his body sent her heart drumming erratically inside her chest and the breath hissing loudly between her teeth.

  As a wave of desire scored through her limbs, she arched her hips even closer.

  David lowered his head. His lips whispered across her mouth, hinting at unimaginable pleasure, seduction and fierce tenderness. Within his arms, Skye knew he would make her forget everything but the gentle stroke of his touch and she gladly succumbed to temptation. With a soft sigh of anticipation, she swept her hands up the corded muscles of his arms and across the taut slope of his shoulders to pause along the nape of his neck, sliding her fingers over his crew cut.

  The lamp flickered again. From the hunger burgeoning throughout her body, Skye suspected she caused it this time. With David, she lost control, her pride and judgment and the ability to rationalize. Which was fine. She’d live with that and this moment without remorse as she dipped her fingers beneath the collar of his shirt to caress the warm, supple flesh of his neck. Then she cupped his jaw with both hands and opened her lips against his mouth to touch her tongue to his.

  A groan rumbled in David’s throat, and he caught her up tighter against his body, kissing her with an exquisite hunger that sent another wave of longing raging through her body. The way his hands shook in her hair, the rapid pounding of his heart and the quick intake of his breath thrilled her. To have this man undone with the simple touch of her mouth and hands excited Skye that much more.

  With immense tenderness, David drew away from her lips and her body. A harsh hum swelled into the room, then a distinct click. She couldn’t control the surge of telekinesis from her mind as the bedside light flashed and extinguished abruptly, casting
the room into abrupt darkness. Slowly, moonlight filtered into the room and glowed through the sheers draped across the large sliding glass door.

  David stared down at her. The light from outside softened the harsh line of his cheekbones and jaw but masked the expression beneath the shadow of his brows. Still, Skye sensed his tension, need and taut control. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered into the hushed silence. “Fierce, passionate—”

  “Don’t talk.” Kicking off her shoes, she unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged out from the sleeves. She discarded the garment by her feet. “Don’t say a word.”

  His quick intake of breath sent her heartbeat racing. His obvious excitement magnified the longing that pooled between her legs as she caught David’s hand and placed his palm against her left breast. At his sudden stillness, Skye shivered. Then David swore under his breath and stroked a thumb over the material of her bra to caress her nipple. She arched into his hand and groaned, relishing the warmth of his fingers on her body.

  “Take your clothes off,” she whispered as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt.

  After quickly toeing out of his shoes, he shrugged out of his shirt and pulled off his pants and underwear. Skye watched with a mouth gone dry. Moonlight caressed the breadth of his chest, the corded strength of his arms, the taut muscles of his stomach and lower... At the thought of him inside her, her legs trembled and her insides twisted with anticipation. She latched onto his arms and edged toward him until his hard, silken length branded her belly.

  With clumsy yet gentle hands, he helped her out of her jeans and underwear. The light shimmering through the sheers caressed David’s body and turned muscle and sinew into silver. But there was nothing cool about his flesh. Heat radiated from his body and burned into her own as he compelled her backward over the carpet. Her thighs hit the edge of the mattress before she tumbled onto her back with David quickly following. His elbows bracketed both her arms as he devoured her mouth in a deep, hungry kiss. He took, demanded a response, and Skye answered him back with her lips, tongue and hands.

  Skye shifted impatiently. Her hands turned urgent, even desperate as they trailed up and down his back. Then she dragged his head down. The warmth of his breath danced across her skin before his mouth brushed across her own, once, twice, tentative at first, then confident, even forceful with passion.

  Her body warmed, turned liquid beneath David’s touch, while the room around her dissipated and she drowned in wave after wave of sensation. She craved everything about him. His body, his mind, what made him distinct from any other man who had touched her life.

  Love. A four letter word she thought she’d never feel for another man again, but with David, she couldn’t help falling in love.

  With a deep groan, David surged into her body, the hard, length of him filling, stretching, turning her limbs into molten heat as hunger, yearning and desire melded and pulled her deeper into an ocean of pulsing need. He kissed her jaw, shoulder and neck, his breath quickening, growing erratic as his mouth pressed against her temple. As she jerked her hips to meet him thrust for thrust, he swept an arm beneath her body and clutched her bottom as he ground into her after each powerful plunge of his hips.

  She cried out. Ecstasy raced through every nerve of her body, shattered every thought of the past or the future. Just the moment, every glorious second bound her in pleasure.

  David gasped, shivered, then stiffened, every rigid inch of him pulsing inside of her. He pulled her deeper into his arms and rolled to the side, taking her with him and easing his weight from her body.

  “Jesus. I—” David brushed his lips over her brow, trailed a thumb over her lower lip, then kissed the spot his finger once touched. “I’m never going to let you walk out on me again. Here on out, you’re mine.”

  Skye closed her eyes and smiled into the darkness. She should be appalled at his chauvinistic comment, but his possessiveness thrilled and melted her insides.

  Sighing, she nestled deeper into his arms and let the room’s hushed darkness and David’s slow, sure breath and protective arms pull her into the oblivion of sleep.

  ~~*~~

  Skye jerked awake. For a moment she lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. The light from the bathroom clung to the ceiling in faded yellow. She must have slept only briefly, because a fine mist from the bathroom’s shower swirled from the doorway.

  For the briefest of seconds, she forgot and stretched beneath the cotton sheet, delighting in the soreness of her limbs and the heavy languor of her body, but unbidden memories cut into her thoughts and she bunched the sheets in one hand as she took in a shuddering breath.

  Skye licked suddenly dry lips. Thirst and anxiety propelled her from the bed. She scrambled into her jeans and wrinkled blouse, then wedged her feet into a pair of running shoes, not bothering with the ties.

  “I’ll be right back,” she called to David in the bathroom, before grabbing the ice bucket and hotel key off the desk, and stuffed the card into the back pocket of her jeans.

  She slipped into an empty hallway, the door clicking closed from behind. Her step even though muffled against the thin, maroon carpet echoed against the long corridor. No one stepped from the elevator or any of the other rooms lining the hallway. After turning right, she walked toward the ice and vending machine room.

  They’d find Ty. With the help of David, nothing or no one would stand in her way. She didn’t have any other option, because if she didn’t find her son alive, didn’t hear his voice or feel his arms around her neck again, life—

  No. She clamped her jaw into a rigid vice. Thinking that way would never give her what she wanted. She needed to be positive and strong. Tyler depended on her intelligence, stubbornness and resourcefulness.

  Skye glanced down both sides of the hall to check for anyone suspicious. After finding the hallway empty, she stepped into the small room where the ice and vending machine butted up against the left wall. Sticking the bucket inside the pocket, she pressed it against the plastic pad and watched ice rattle into the container. She flinched at the loud, jarring noise.

  As she released the button and pulled out the plastic container from inside the machine, movement flashed in her peripheral vision. Stiffening, she pivoted. The ice bucket in her hand swung wide, spraying ice against the machine, wall and floor.

  The door leading into the hallway and her only escape route from inside slammed shut.

  Chapter 25

  From inside the windowless room, Skye stared at the closed door. Cautiously she set the ice bucket on a low-lying table against the wall, stepped forward and jiggled the knob. The door wouldn’t open. For several long, drawn-out moments she listened.

  Silence from the hallway.

  Maybe the door had a self-closing hinge she hadn’t realized. The knob itself didn’t have an inside lock release, but it looked like management used a key to lock up the room. Great. She’d locked herself inside inadvertently. Unless...someone wanted her trapped inside, which didn’t make a bit of sense. She didn’t see a possible threat inside the small room.

  Still...

  Frowning, she withdrew her hand and centered all her power with her mind on the knob until she heard a soft click. Just as she started to turn the handle, the lock snapped back. She jerked away from the door and flipped the mechanism mentally back to open. Again the metal shifted and locked her inside.

  Tension snapped up her spine. “Who’s there?”

  A heartbeat of silence. “Let’s just say someone from your past.”

  Skye skidded backward, slipping on an ice cube. She caught the wall with a hand and steadied herself. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Tension bound her muscles like barbed wire as she edged closer and slipped her fingers around the doorknob, ready to use her powers if the person decided to shove his way into the room and attack her.

  “I don’t have much time.” Even with the wood separating them, his voice came out smooth and calm.

  Skye tensed,
expecting the worse.

  “This guy you’re with. David. Don’t trust him.”

  She blinked. Her breath hitched, and she shook her head. He was talking about David. Her David. That didn’t make sense. David was the only person she could trust.

  “His father is connected with a slimeball named Ferguson.”

  Her grip on the doorknob tightened. My, God. What was he talking about? “How do I know you’re not lying? You could be the one that kidnapped my son.” She pressed a cheek against the wood panel, unable to keep the desperation from her voice. “Are you? Do you have Tyler?”

  Skye squeezed her eyes shut and waited into the silence.

  “No.”

  “Then how do you know Ferguson?”

  “I don’t. Not personally, but I’ve been inside his house.”

  “Why?”

  At the lengthening silence, she wondered if she’d pushed too far with even that simple question.

  “I needed information on the October House. I thought he had a complete list of the children who lived at the home when that explosion at Miltronics hit in the early nineties.”

  “What’s so important about the orphanage?” She jiggled the doorknob again, desperate for answers and the identity of the person in the hallway. “This is crazy talking like this. Unlock the door so I can see you.”

  What sounded like a laugh filtered into the small room. “I’m not crazy. I know what you’re capable of.”

  “What do you mean?” she hedged, not liking how he knew everything about her and she had nothing on him.

  “You know exactly what I mean.” What sounded like amusement lightened the dark, smoky texture of the man’s voice. “You’re not the only one with powers. There are others out there like you, me, David.”

  With her cheek still pressed against the door, Skye closed her eyes, wanting to believe him but still terribly afraid to hope there were others. “And the lock?”