Taking advantage of the space Parker had put between them, she headed for the door. “There’s something I need to look into.”
All traces of his earlier playfulness vanished from his face as he followed. “Something to do with your father?”
Parker hoped she would say something, but wasn’t surprised when she didn’t respond to his question. Not that he needed her to. Adrian had grudgingly confirmed his suspicion this morning before cautioning him not to push her too hard.
After last night, when she’d lowered her guard as things heated up between them in the stairwell, he knew that eventually she’d lean on him again, maybe even talk to him. Though he wouldn’t have minded her needing to lean on him again this morning.
On him. Over him. Against him.
He took another bite of the apple when all he really wanted to do was take a bite out of her. The flimsy excuse for a robe was more tempting than the towel had been. If she had any idea what the lavender silk was doing to him, she’d be hightailing it back to her bedroom for something else.
Anything else.
Despite what she believed had prompted him to check on her—and yeah, he could admit he wouldn’t have passed on an opportunity to finish things from last night—he was worried about her.
He hadn’t seen her that shaken before. Even the nightmares she had always downplayed hadn’t come close to the haunted look he’d glimpsed in her eyes last night. He was intimately familiar with that look. Had seen it every time he’d glanced at his own reflection in the months that followed his family’s death.
His determination to help erase it from her eyes had been the only thing that kept him grounded after his mystery caller had hung up. Like before, the call had ended without divulging any real details, leaving him more frustrated than ever.
Pressure built between his temples just thinking about it. So he didn’t. He’d promised Rae—even after she’d left and hadn’t been there to hear him—that he would let it go and move on. And he had. He couldn’t open that door again, not knowing what it had done to him the last time.
Instead of thinking of the bitch out to screw with his head, he thought of what might have happened if he’d ignored that call and spent the night with Rae. Maybe then he could have started the day off in bed with her instead of dragging his sorry ass into a freezing cold shower.
Yeah, thinking about waking up tucked against her was definitely a better use of brainpower than rehashing events he had vowed to leave in the past. He owed Rae at least that much for what he’d put her through then.
Too bad she wasn’t operating on the same wavelength he was this morning. If she had been, she might not have looked annoyed when he reached over her head and closed the door she’d just yanked open.
“Haven’t finished my breakfast yet.” To punctuate his point, he took another bite, chewed slowly.
A flush of color rose in her cheeks, and he was glad he held back on mentioning that he planned on having her for desert. She looked just annoyed enough to bring on some pain.
Annoyed was much better than haunted though, even if it meant she’d rebuilt all the walls that had fallen between them last night. Knowing what she kept hidden beneath all those rigid lines and don’t-fuck-with-me glares only fueled the need she’d uncaged inside him. An increasingly desperate need—for her.
He’d been worried that acknowledging that hunger for her would drag him back into the sex-crazed mindset that had once consumed him. While he felt a whisper of it curling through his veins, he wasn’t in danger of letting it take him over.
Though all that lavender silk dripping down Rae’s sweet curves wasn’t helping him stay clear-headed. Not when he ached to help her out of it.
God, she was beautiful. Her dark red hair all damp and kinky and made for sinking his fingers into. Her ice-blue eyes, even when shooting daggers at him, made him want to press a lingering kiss over each soft lid, before moving on down to her lush mouth.
Which was exactly what he did—moved in and down until his nose bumped hers. From there it was only a short drop to her parted lips that looked tasty enough to eat. Lick. Suck.
Just shy of opening his mouth over hers, he waited, just for a second, wanting her to feel what he did. That heightened charge of the moment that raced over his skin like heat lightning and came only a heartbeat before their lips touched.
Except the last part didn’t happen. Should have, and damn well would have if not for the God-awful sound that came from somewhere behind him. A sound he imagined he might hear if a rabid cat was getting off on playing with a garbage compactor.
Cat? Half an inch from tasting heaven, Parker froze. “What the hell was that?”
“What was what?” This close he felt more than saw her smile.
“That—” he tried and failed to suppress a shudder, “—meow.”
“I’m not sure meow is the right word. Hiss maybe. Though I’d lean toward a growl seeing as you and Nico rarely got along.”
Nico. Aka Nicodemus. Aka evil incarnate. Parker had considered himself a cat person until the four-legged antichrist had come into his life. Hell, he had very few scars from demon encounters but still managed to sport a nasty one on his foot from the black beast.
“That cat’s not dead yet?”
“Nope. He’s still a kitten at heart. Keeps him young.”
Yeah, she was definitely smiling.
“You think this is funny?”
“That you’re scared of a feline that spends twenty hours a day sleeping. No.” The way she dragged out the last word, laughter flashing in her eyes almost made up for the topic of conversation. Almost.
“I’ve seen how Nico spends the other four hours.” And it didn’t involve sitting around licking his balls like any other male cat.
“He did not watch you sleep.”
Watch was too mild of a word to describe the way the feline would eyeball him from Rae’s side of the bed. “Well, he sure as hell wasn’t doing other cat-like things.”
Smiling, she shrugged, not even bothering to downplay her amusement over the trauma he’d suffered at the hands of her so-called pet. “He played with his toys all the time. Still does.”
“Toys like the jingle bell you sliced off that mimic demon dressed up as Santa?” It had been damn creepy the way the cat took to the bell in the first place, almost like he’d identified with the creature she’d taken it from.
Sensing movement much too close for his peace of mind, he had to ask. “Where is he?” And how had he missed spotting signs that the cat hadn’t kicked the milk bucket yet?
“Right behind you.”
His eyes slid shut, but he managed not to shiver.
“You had no problem engaging that telepath demon and yet Nico scares the crap out of you.”
“That telepath demon didn’t shred my favorite shirt—”
“He likes blue.”
“—while I was still wearing it,” he finished. A moment passed, then another. “Is he still there?”
“Watching you like a hawk.” She leaned past him, her expression softening.
There was something wrong in the world when he got the dirty looks while the furry monster got looks of adoration.
“I know you’re convinced he’s harboring some deep hatred of you, and while I can see why he might be holding a grudge on my behalf, he’s much too self-absorbed for that.”
Unconvinced, Parker finally bit the bullet and glanced over his shoulder.
Nico sat motionless in the middle of the kitchen floor, one crooked ear still ripped from a fight, his head cocked as though he hadn’t yet figured out who had let Parker into his territory.
Reminding himself that he was the dominant male in the room, he refocused his attention on Rae. As if she’d realized her reprieve was over, she self-consciously fiddled with the neckline of her robe.
Though he was dying to peel it off her and get at all the soft, creamy skin beneath, he managed to nod at the bag on the floor. “So if it’s not an
assignment, where are you headed?”
“Following a lead.”
“We’re supposed to be working on this together.”
“May turn out to be a dead-end. No point in both of us getting tied up with it.” She grabbed the door handle, but he covered her hand with his before she could pull it open again.
“So why aren’t you sending one of the others then?”
She shook his hand off, though he noticed it took her a few seconds to get around to it. “I need to do this.”
“Because it involves your father,” he guessed. “Does Adrian know you’re taking off?”
“He’s on his way back to headquarters and I don’t report every move I make to Adrian.”
“So that’s a no, then.”
Her steel-edged smile promised things were going to get ugly if he didn’t back off. Part of him wanted to test it—the same part that was still fixated on the way her robe clung to her breasts—but he knew he’d make more progress with her if he played along.
“I’m assuming this is just an overnight trip.”
Seeming suspicious when he didn’t try to stop her from opening the door again, she stepped back, waiting for him to leave. “You can assume all you like.”
“Driving or flying?” It would be easy enough to check, but he wanted to see if she’d tell him the truth about that at least.
She sighed. “Flying. And I’m going to be late if you don’t leave. Now.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, mostly to stop himself from reaching for her, but didn’t step through the door just yet.
“You really must want me to sic Nico on you.”
He sighed. “Now that’s just playing dirty.” Dirty and underhanded, and sexy as hell to boot.
She waited until he finally stepped into the hall. “Whatever gets the job done.”
Parker couldn’t agree more.
Chapter Eight
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Rae expected the words to come out with an edge. Instead she sounded a little like a shell-shocked wallflower who’d just snagged the undivided attention of the star quarterback. And she wasn’t even a football fan.What the hell was it about Parker that let him slide in under the radar and get to her? Judging by the triumphant expression on his face as he dropped into the seat opposite her on the small plane, he knew when he’d successfully penetrated her defenses.
Reminding herself of their rocky relationship, how he’d refused to stop fixating on proving his mother’s innocence, even when it had meant turning his back on her, was the only way she could hold herself in check.
“What are you doing here?”
He relaxed into the seat, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Backing you up, shortcake.”
“Stop calling me that,” she gritted out. “And you’re not a field agent.”
“And you don’t bake like the real Strawberry Shortcake,” he countered, shrugging. “Nobody’s perfect.”
“Strawberry Shortcake isn’t real. She’s a cartoon.” Which was totally beside the point. “And you know what I mean. You’re not accustomed to…” she trailed off, feeling his gaze drop from her eyes to her mouth.
“Yes?”
“…being in the field,” she lamely finished.
His brow creased. “Which you seem to take a lot of pleasure in reminding me.” That lazy smile of his didn’t take nearly long enough to reappear. “I didn’t realize you were expecting any trouble that would require a real Destroyer.” He leaned forward, his gaze searching. “Unless it’s not a demon that you’re worried is gonna get you.”
A flush of heat swept through her, making it difficult, but not impossible, to stay in control of the situation. “I didn’t clear you for this assignment.”
“Adrian did, actually.”
She opened her mouth to remind him that Adrian didn’t run the field office, only to be cut off.
“Were you aware your phone is still off?”
Her battery had died last night, but she’d intentionally left it shut off this morning. If Adrian asked then she’d have to tell him where she was headed, and with no proof the red lockbox contained anything useful, she knew he’d worry she was letting the past influence her. Best for him to find out once she was already airborne so he couldn’t talk her into sending someone else or not bothering at all.
“I suppose you tried to call and tell me you were coming?”
He scoffed as though they both knew it would have been stupid to give her a heads up on his plan. “Adrian was trying to get a hold of you.”
“What about?”
He shrugged, then nodded out the window to where the engines were firing up. “Guess you’d better hurry if you want to let the pilot know you want me off the plane.” Unconcerned, he slouched in the seat and closed his eyes.
She unfastened her seatbelt.
“Although,” he began, not bothering to give up his feigned interest in taking a nap. “That would mean going back on our deal.”
Deal? Her blood pressure skyrocketed.
Take a breath. Count to ten.
“We didn’t make a deal.”
Confused by this, he turned his head to look at her. “You know, you probably didn’t hear me after slamming the door in my face.”
They both knew he hadn’t said a goddamned word. “What makes you think I’m even open to any kind of a deal?”
“We both know you want me gone.”
The edge to his voice told her Adrian must have mentioned he’d be reassigned when this was over. And if he knew that—which she refused to feel guilty about, damn it—he also knew he couldn’t use it as any kind of bargaining chip since it was practically a done deal thanks to Adrian.
When some of the playfulness vanished from his face, she knew she wasn’t going to like whatever came next. Chances were she might even hate it.
“I come with you or I go back and tell the team who we’re really looking for.”
Icy fingers closed around her throat, and for a second spots danced across her vision.
That was all the warning she got before Parker was shoving her head between her knees, telling her to breathe, which would have been so much easier if she wasn’t thinking about losing the reputation she’d fought to build within the network, not to mention the respect of her team.
“Shit.” Parker rubbed his hand between her shoulder blades, making it that much harder for her to focus on calming her racing heart when she’d much rather break his fingers.
A minute passed. Maybe two. “Rae?”
She shook her head, still reeling from both his threat and her reaction to it. God, she used to have a better hold of herself. After the experiments, she’d excelled at masking her feelings, refusing to let anyone think that she cared what they thought of her.
Finally shrugging off his hand, she chose to look out the window instead of at him. “That was low. Even for you, Parker.”
“Been much lower than that, actually, but you’d know that better than anyone,” he said quietly, his voice laced with regret. He sighed. “I’m sorry for backing you into a corner, but you haven’t given me much of a choice.”
Her spine relaxed when he seemed to give up on waiting for her to acknowledge his pseudo-apology and sat back in his chair.
The plane turned toward the runway and began picking up speed.
“Come on, Rae. Say something.” He waited a beat, then, “Why didn’t you tell me? Why lie and say that both your parents were dead?”
She couldn’t decide if he sounded more hurt or angry, then told herself she didn’t care. Telling him about her father wouldn’t have kept him from pulling away from her, wouldn’t have kept him from using her—wouldn’t have stopped her from letting him.
Deciding to take a page from Parker’s book, she settled back in her seat and closed her eyes. “Wake me when we get there.”
Parker was going to be pissed, but after his stunt on the plane, Rae wasn’t in the mood to care. She would have pref
erred to pack the pain-in-the-ass profiler into the cargo hold and send him on to Rio, the plane’s next destination, to retrieve Gage from assignment.
She had settled for ditching him at the hotel they’d checked into earlier. Thankfully Red Crossing, Michigan had grown in the years since she’d lived here, and they hadn’t been forced to stay at one of the family-run establishments where someone might recognize her. She’d had enough blasts from the pasts to last a decade or two.
The sooner she finished up here the better. Twenty-four hours spent in the last town she’d lived in with her father, trying to pretend she was normal, was twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes too long.
Rae slipped her hand in her pocket, withdrawing the key she’d been holding on to since her father’s disappearance. More than once she’d contemplated having the storage place dispose of her father’s belongings, only to change her mind at the last minute every time.
She’d seen very little of him in the last few years before he’d vanished without a word. Though she’d chosen to stay with him when the network had discovered the lengths he’d gone to with his experiments—still too traumatized at twelve years old to consider abandoning the only family she had left in the world—things between them had been strained.
In the beginning, she hadn’t realized he must have been holding something over the network’s head to make them back off, naïve enough to believe he wanted her with him because he loved her. Her teen years might not have been spent in a lab undergoing tests, but that didn’t make her father’s continued observation and analysis any less of an experiment.
After losing her mother, she’d watched her father retreat so deeply into his work, she’d been willing to do almost anything to keep from losing him too. When he had told her he needed her help, she had been so grateful he remembered that he hadn’t lost her along with her mom, she hadn’t hesitated.
Cutting off that trip down memory lane, she slid out of the rental car and crossed the street to the storage place.
The moment her foot touched the curb, the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Her hand closed around the hilt of the kukri beneath her jacket out of habit. A quick scan of the area didn’t amount to much, but the feeling that she was being watched remained.
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