Man with the Muscle

by Julie Miller

  “I’m on guard duty, remember?”

  The fractured images from her nightmare scattered into the recesses of her mind as something embarrassingly feminine and far too basic pumped into her blood at the sight of his half-naked body. He unfolded himself from the couch, creating ripples of awareness through the sitting room. There was much to appreciate about his sculpted pecs with their dusting of blue-black hair. His stomach was flat, his arms and shoulders heavily muscled. And the most intriguing thing was that, even though he stood only a few inches taller than she, everything about him was supremely masculine and perfectly balanced, from the leather bands on either wrist to the thin stripe of dark hair that disappeared behind the open snap of his jeans.

  But she hadn’t come out here to give her hormones a rush. She hugged her arms around her middle and rubbed her arms, the unexpected warmth firing inside her creating a chill along the surface of her skin. “I want to apologize for Harper’s behavior.”

  “Why?” He tossed the magazine he’d been reading onto the couch. “You weren’t the one throwing out the insults.”

  “He’s not himself. He’s still grieving over Gretchen’s murder, and he’s turned to me as a friend in need.”

  Alex propped his hands on his hips, refusing to accept her apology. “You’re grieving, too. You’ve got your own problems to deal with. Who’s taking care of you?”

  “I take care of me.” It was a valiant statement, but she wasn’t even convincing herself.

  “Why did you really come out here?” His eyes were fathomless in the shadows, his voice barely a whisper. Yet everything about Alex’s words resonated deep in her bones. “What do you need tonight, Audrey?”

  She ran through her list—polite apologies, thank-yous, fear of failing at the trial and letting Demetrius Smith and his lawyer make a mockery of her, fear that others around her would get hurt by her quest, guilt that a friend had died and she’d been too busy to be a very good friend to her at the end. But those dark, all-seeing eyes saw deeper inside. “I want to let down my guard for a few hours. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone or anything. I just want to…be taken care of for a little while.” The admission ended on half a laugh that just might be masking a few tears. She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Oh, God, I do sound like a pampered princess, don’t I?”

  “You sound like an honest woman.” He crossed the room with such purpose that Audrey instinctively backed away. But he caught her before she reached the doorway, tugged on her fingers and swung her up into his arms.

  “Alex!” She tumbled against heat and strength and found herself not knowing exactly where to put her hands or even if she was pushing away or holding on. His chest hair tickled her palm. His bare skin was hot to the touch. A muscle flexed when she touched him there. He grinned when she touched him there. “Alex?”

  “Shh. Around my neck is just fine.”

  She lightly wound her arms around his neck and held on as he carried her into her bedroom. Although certain traitorous parts of her had one idea in mind, Alex was taking her at her word, giving her what she’d asked for, what she needed. He laid her on the bed and tucked the covers up around her chin. After a gentle press of his fingertip to her lips, he left the room. Audrey had pushed herself up onto her elbows, wondering at his game, when he returned with his gun and badge. The edge of her bed sank beneath his weight as he leaned over to place his ID and weapon within easy reach.

  But before he turned off the light, she saw the puckers of pale circular scars on the back of his right shoulder, like a spider’s web standing out in harsh contrast against his olive skin. With her stomach clenching in knots of compassion, she reached up and brushed her fingers across the palm-size wound.

  His skin jumped beneath her touch. And then Alex was turning, plucking her hand away and swinging his legs up on top of the covers beside her. “Easy, Red. You asked for comfort, and I’m doing my damnedest to be a good boy here.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “Nothing too dramatic—laser surgery.” He scooted down onto the pillows and rolled onto his side to face her. “I had a tattoo removed.”

  “A good-size one from the look of it. Did it hurt?”

  “Not as much as when an old friend tried to cut it off me.”

  Audrey hissed at the horrid idea of the pain he must have suffered. She laid her fingers against his cheek, cupping his stubbled jaw. “Alex…”

  He covered her hand with his. “It was a gang tat, Audrey. Westside Warriors. I may be the best qualified cop in KCPD to protect you against Smith. Because I grew up in a gang, too.”

  He didn’t seem surprised when she freed her hand to clutch the sheet and comforter together at her chest between them. Maybe he thought she was judging him, but she was just…stunned. “Did you ever…?”

  “Get into trouble?” He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “Yeah. Not anything I’m proud of. All juvie stuff. I finally got out the year before the Taylors adopted me. They made me want to stay out.”

  “Don’t gangs have some kind of violent…reverse initiation…if a member wants to leave?”

  “Yeah.”

  He didn’t elaborate and his stark response left Audrey imagining all kinds of horrible things—like peeling off a tattoo with a knife—and crawling out from under the covers to hug him tightly around his shoulders.

  After a moment’s hesitation, he folded his arms around her and pulled her squarely on top of him, holding her close for several timeless minutes. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed deeply. Audrey rode the rise and fall of his chest, settling more deeply, more intimately against him with every exhale.

  But as his hands slid down toward her bottom, he muttered a curse and pushed her away. “You play hell with my best intentions, counselor.”

  Fine. Keep it friendly. Audrey tried to give him his space. But she didn’t get far across the bed before he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her back into the sheltering curve of his body, as though he, too, had a few needs that could only be assuaged by the closeness of another human being. He drew gentle, mindless circles across her belly as he spooned behind her, warming the silk and soothing something tight and needy deeper inside. “The point is, I know how Smith thinks. I know how a gang works. I know just how tough and ruthless they can be.”

  So he could be that tough and ruthless, too.

  “Does that scare you?” he whispered against her ear.

  Audrey laid her hand over his, lacing their fingers together to still the errant caresses. “Having a former juvenile delinquent in bed with the assistant district attorney?”

  His chuckle was a warm balm against her skin. “A headline like that couldn’t be good for your reputation. A glory-seeker like Lassen would love to print that story.”

  “I only worry about headlines if they’re a lie or they hurt my father.”

  “You’re very protective of him.”

  “He’s all I’ve got. I want him to know that I can take care of myself out in the world—that he doesn’t always have to worry about me. When my mom was dying of cancer, the worries he had ate him up. They aggravated his heart condition.”

  “That explains a lot about your need to be independent. Striking out on your own and creating your individual success is your way of taking care of him.”

  “Yeah.” He got it. She wasn’t sure if that understanding surprised her or not. Alex Taylor seemed to intuit more about her than she even knew herself sometimes. It should have been a disquieting realization to know that someone had gotten so deep into her head. Instead, her body relaxed and she snuggled into the wall of heat at her back. “You’re not exactly who I thought you’d be, Alex.”

  “I’m a different class of people than Pierce and your society friends, hmm?”

  She shook her head. This wasn’t about social standing. “You’re more complex. When I expected you to be an ass, you gave me your handkerchief and stood up for me.”

  “That’s G
randma’s training.”

  She squeezed his hand at her waist and smiled. “I hear such love and unabashed gratitude every time you speak of your family. I never expected that, either. You fight with me—”

  “They’re discussions, Red.”

  “—yet you stand beside me when I need a friend.” Or lie beside her. A tremor of awareness that had nothing to do with comfort and everything to do with sexual hunger rippled along every inch of her skin. “You’re a little hard for me to figure out.”

  He misread her shiver as a sign she was feeling chilled, and tucked her beneath the covers again. He stretched out on top of the comforter and pulled her into his arms, facing him. “Oh, and that’s eatin’ you up inside, is it?”

  She gave his shoulder a playful swat, followed almost immediately by an unexpected yawn. “Hard, I said, but not impossible. I won’t quit trying.”

  Maybe he was feeling the same sexual tension, but he was determined to give her what she’d asked for. He traced relaxing lines up and down her back and continued the quiet conversation. “You’re not what I expected, either.”

  “Daddy’s society princess? That’s one of the reasons I went to work for Dwight Powers—I want to prove I’m not that stereotype.”

  “Trust me, Red, you are too unique to fit into any stereotype I know of.”

  That comment gave her pause. “You know, that may well be the most meaningful compliment any man has ever given me.”

  “Who said it was a compliment?”

  She giggled against the fragrant warmth of his skin. But his strong arms and abundant heat and quiet conversation were working. Her eyelids had lead weights on them and it was getting harder and harder to focus. She nestled into the pillow of his shoulder with her hand resting at the middle of his chest. “Is there anything else you like about me, Alex?”

  She felt his lips in her hair, felt the absolute security of his arms around her. He was taking care of her. In the tenderest way possible, he was giving her exactly what she needed.

  “The list is too long to get into tonight. You need your sleep, and so do I.”

  Audrey wasn’t sure when the darkness finally claimed her and she fell asleep. But she knew she wasn’t alone. She was in a place where the nightmares couldn’t reach her. She was calm, centered, secure in her dreams.

  And for the first time in a long while, she believed that everything in her life might just turn out all right.

  Chapter Seven

  Audrey cracked one eye open as a narrow ribbon of light fell across her face. She put up her hand, wanting no part of pictures and reporters intruding on her blissful slumber this morning.

  Slumber? Morning?

  She rolled over to a cold spot and shivered. Both eyes snapped open. The bright line of light was peeking through the gap between her drapes. The storm had passed, the alarm clock was beeping and she was alone.

  Alone.

  She threw back the covers and scrambled out of bed. “Alex?”

  The intimacy of holding each other through the night had passed. The doors were closed, the room was silent, his gun and badge were gone. How dare he? Not even a goodbye? He’d done his duty by her—he’d talked and shared and aroused and comforted and now he was gone? Or had something happened? Had his team been called out on a dangerous assignment? Had someone gotten onto the estate, after all? She went through confusion, anger, hurt and, finally, concern, as she ran to the sitting-room door and pulled it open.

  “Alex!” She screamed when she saw the giant perched on the end of her couch and jumped back to cling to the door frame. “Who are you—? Where—?”

  “Trip Jones, ma’am. Remember me from yesterday in the park? I’m a friend of Alex’s from SWAT Team One. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Now she saw the gun at his hip, the insulated SWAT jacket draped over the back of the couch. He set down his book and stood. And stood. And stood while she shrank back another step and estimated the distance to the hallway.

  “Shrimp asked me to come over and keep an eye on things while he gets cleaned up.”

  Shrimp? She swiveled her head to the sound of running water and the door to the bathroom swinging open.

  “Audrey!” Alex ran straight toward her, clutching a towel around his waist, dripping on her rug. With a muttered curse, he stopped and turned to the big man with the light brown hair. “You couldn’t have announced yourself?”

  “I didn’t realize you hadn’t told her that we were here. We were just getting acquainted.”

  “Wait a minute, we?” There were more armed police officers lurking around the house?

  “Shrimp called for reinforcements.” Trip grinned, never retreating one step from Alex’s advance. “Now I can see why. You’re sportin’ a real tough-guy look there. Where are you hiding your gun?”

  “You don’t want to know.” Alex slicked his fingers through his wet hair and glanced back at the bathroom.

  “Why don’t you go outside and check the grounds?”

  “Holden and Sarge are already on that. Captain Cutler is on the phone with Quinn Gallagher’s office, tracking down the security logs to find out everyone who’s come and gone from the estate over the past month or so.” He shrugged his black jacket onto his broad shoulders. “I called your brother like you asked. He’s got his dog here to see if he can pick up any trace of intruders on the grounds.”

  “There’s a dog?”

  “K-9 unit, ma’am.” Trip turned his warm hazel eyes to her before pulling a black KCPD ball cap over his super-short, military-cut hair. “Although I don’t know if he’ll be able to pick up much after all that sleet and snow we had last night.”

  With one hand holding tight to the towel that rode atop his hips, Alex gestured to the hallway door. “Why don’t you track down Pike and see how he and Hans are doing?”

  “Pike’s the brother, Hans is the dog,” Trip clarified, easily looking over Alex’s shoulder to her before opening the door.

  Alex’s irritation was as evident as Trip’s amusement as he shooed the replacement babysitter out. “I’ve got this covered in here, big guy. Go find the dog.”

  “You ain’t got much covered.” The door was closing in his face as Trip added, “Nice to see you again, ma’am.”

  Alex ducked into the bathroom to turn off the water and scrub a towel over his short, curling hair. He draped the second towel around his neck and apologized. “Sorry about that. When I called for backup this morning so I could get a couple hours of hard sleep, I didn’t think my entire team would show up. You were zonked, so I thought I’d be done before you woke to warn you about the shift change.”

  Now that she recognized Trip Jones and understood why he was here, she remembered something Alex had said to her outside the courthouse yesterday. Yes, she’d been startled, but he had nothing to apologize for. She grabbed the ends of the towel hanging over his chest and tugged him closer. “Your team is here to back you up because you need them. We need them.”

  She tugged a little harder and angled his face down to hers to kiss him. His skin was steamy from the shower, his face clean-shaven and smooth. And his lips were just as warm and divine and wonderful as she remembered as he tunneled his fingers into her hair and deepened her thank you into a taste of a passionate good morning. Audrey curled her toes into the carpet, still holding on to the towel, as she forced herself to pull away.

  “Thanks for last night. I guess I needed a little backup myself. You were right about me needing to realize that.” She tickled her palm over the curls of hair on his chest. “But the reality of today is I have to return to the courthouse and face off against Cade Shipley and his client.”

  “Wait a minute. Rewind. I was right?” He slid his hands to the small of her back and pulled her flush against him, smiling against her mouth before he reclaimed it. “I have a feeling that’s not something I’m going to hear too often.”

  Audrey squealed a token protest as the water from his wet skin soaked through her pajamas. It
was like standing skin-to-skin, softness to hardness, need to need. Her pulse caught fire. Her nipples pearled beneath the friction of his chest moving against hers, shooting little tendrils of heat curling down inside her. Audrey wound her arms around his neck and pulled herself up on tiptoe, aligning her hips with his, recapturing the closeness they’d shared through the night, intensifying it.

  Alex moaned deep in his throat and tore his mouth from hers a split second before the door opened and Trip walked back in. “Sorry. Don’t mind the elephant in the room. Forgot my book. By the way, you aren’t the only company here this morning. A Miss Darnell? Mr. Kline spoke to Captain Cutler and we cleared her. Otherwise, no one has been here except the paperboy and the morning staff. Just wanted you to know that some of us around here are doing our job, shrimp.” He tipped his hat to Audrey and winked at Alex. “You two carry on.”

  “Get out of here!” Alex ordered.

  Audrey landed flat on her feet as Alex released her and whirled around. The wad of towel that had been around his neck hit the closing door as Trip grinned all the way out.

  She curled her arms around her waist, setting up a definite barrier as Alex reached for her to resume the kiss. His gaze narrowed and he settled for rubbing his hands up and down the silk on her arms. “Audrey?”

  She backed away a step. She hadn’t heard the knock on the door, or whatever had alerted him to Trip’s return. He’d been on guard, as usual—aware of everything going on around him. He hadn’t forgotten about the threats and his duty, while for the past few moments she’d forgotten about everything except getting that towel off his hips and getting even closer.

  She’d forgotten about her duty. To the people of Kansas City.

  “Don’t be so hard on him.” The interruption gave her the moment she needed to get her head screwed on straight. Burying those impulsive urges made her realize a bit of modesty was in order. She went to the door and picked up the towel to cover her now see-through pajamas. “I think the big guy’s funny.”