Hostile Desires

by Melissa Schroeder

  “You need to change and clean up, Elle.”

  She ignored him. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand. Drew was her employee. She should have made sure he was safe. His actions had had actually kept her safe. The truth was, if he hadn’t been there, she was sure her bluff to McPherson would have ended with her being hurt.

  “Eleanora Middleton, you are going to clean up and put scrubs on right now.”

  She stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at him. Anger swiftly took hold of her emotions. Straightening her spine, she glared at him.

  “Who do you think you are?”

  He stood up and towered over her. “I’m Graeme McGregor, the man who loves you. You are skating on the edge of shock, and you have Drew’s blood all over the front of you. His parents will be here soon, as will Cat. They do not need to see that.”

  She looked down at her clothes and saw it then. Blood had been spattered all over her. Even though she had washed her hands, she could see red under her fingernails. Drew’s blood.

  Bloody hell.

  Shards of ice sliced through her, leaving her chilled. She shivered, as her vision wavered. She realized she was crying again. Elle looked up at McGregor, whose frown dissolved.

  “Oh, love,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. His warmth surrounded her, comforted her, and allowed her to let go. She curled her hands into the front of his shirt and sobbed. Graeme kissed her on the temple, as he muttered nonsensical words of comfort and he rocked her back and forth. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  She wanted to believe that. Always. But her life didn’t always turn out brilliantly.

  “You don’t know that.”

  He leaned back, and she looked up at him. “I do. You have to believe in the good things, Eleanora.”

  She nodded and stepped back, as she wiped her tears away.

  “Now, let’s get you changed. I have some scrubs here. It will only take a sec, and then we will be back to watch for news.”

  She let him lead her into the bathroom. He helped her out of her clothes, which she noticed he put into an evidence bag. Her heart ached thinking that they could be evidence in a murder trial. Drew’s murder.

  She pushed that thought aside. Graeme was right. She needed to keep her head on straight and think positive. He easily helped her put on a pair of green scrubs. He’d even brought a pair of nonskid socks.

  “Come, let’s wash your hands better.”

  She did as he instructed, allowing him to lather up her hands and arms. Then, he helped her wash her hands and arms, drying them with paper towels. When they stepped back into the hallway, Marcus and Adam were there, both of them wearing grim expressions. Her heart sank.

  “What’s up?” Graeme asked.

  “McPherson is in with the doctor,” Adam said, just as the door opened again to reveal Del and Emma. The new bride and groom rushed in.

  “Any word?” Del asked.

  “No. He’s still in surgery. The bullet shattered on impact, causing it to splinter.” Elle had heard the explanation, but now that she said it herself, she realized how horrible it was.

  She shivered. Graeme trailed his fingers down her spine, then slipped his hand around her waist. She leaned into him, accepting his comfort. His body heat surrounded her—steadied her.

  “Has anyone gotten hold of Cat?” Del asked.

  Adam nodded. “She’s on her way with Drew’s parents.”

  Just then, the doors to the operating surgical wing opened up, and the doctor came walking out.

  “Well, you seemed to have acquired more people who believe in abusing their power.”

  She ignored that. “Please, doctor.”

  He smiled. “It was touch and go there for a few minutes, but we pulled him back. That young man is a fighter, that’s for sure. It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but I think he’s up for it. And if not, he apparently has enough people to help him. We’ll have to watch him. There is always a chance of blood clots.”

  Happiness and relief filtered through Elle. Her vision wavered again.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  The surgeon nodded. “He’ll be in recovery for awhile, then up to ICU.”

  “Is there news?”

  They all turned to find Cat standing with Drew’s parents. His mother had asked the question.

  Elle stepped away from the comfort of Graeme and nodded.

  “He is on his way to recovery right now. They will come to get you when he is in ICU.”

  “So, he’s okay?” Cat asked.

  Elle nodded. “He’s going to need some therapy, and recovery isn’t going to be easy, but he should pull through.”

  Cat nodded and walked away. Elle blinked.

  “What?” she asked and looked at Graeme.

  He patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll talk to her.”

  She watched as he followed Cat out.

  “Can you tell us what happened exactly?” Drew’s father asked.

  She nodded, led them to some chairs, and started the long story of just how their son had probably saved her life.

  * * *

  Cat was already at the lift by the time he caught up with her.

  “Where are you going?” he asked her.

  She glanced at him, then back at the door as if willing it to open. “I have things to do.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Like what?”

  “Just leave it, McGregor.”

  “No, I will not leave it. Drew is one of our team, and you need to be there.”

  “He has all of you, and we aren’t going to be allowed in ICU. You know that. Elle might be able to weasel her way in there, but not us.”

  “Cat—”

  “It’s my fault.”

  “What?”

  “He went by to pick up a file for me before our dinner tonight. He got shot because I asked him to be there. My fault.”

  He should have seen it. She would think it was her fault, just as he knew that Elle thought it was hers. But he knew what Cat was doing. She was trying to get away, to avoid the pain. It was scary almost losing someone you truly cared about. Being soft would not work on Cat though.

  “The only person at fault is McPherson, and there’s a good chance if Drew hadn’t distracted the bastard, Elle would be dead. Drew saved Elle. Blaming yourself diminishes his sacrifice.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m a bitch.” Her flippant tone was at odds with her expression and her actions.

  “That’s no’ the word I was thinking of.”

  She glanced at him. “Is that right?”

  “Coward is the word I would use.”

  She said nothing, but the quick intake of breath told him he had hit his mark. He felt like a bastard for doing it to her, but he wanted to save her the regret of this mistake. It would haunt her forever, eat away at her gut, and leave her a shell of who she was now.

  He thought she was ready to crack. Something shifted in her expression, but in the next instant, the doors to the lift opened. Charity came barreling out of the elevator.

  “Sorry,” Charity said.

  Before Graeme could stop her, Cat jumped on the elevator. As the doors closed, he saw her expression. She might have acted a little cowardly, but she was in pain. She looked up just as the doors closed, and there were tears in her eyes.

  “I got a text from Emma. All good?”

  He nodded. “Come on.”

  He walked Charity to where everyone was waiting. The first person he saw, the one that he would always see first, was Elle. She was holding Mrs. Franklin’s hand, as she talked to her softly.

  That moment when he thought he might lose her, when Will was shooting wildly throughout the parking lot, he had realized he didn’t want to go on living if she’d died.

  She glanced at him, offering him a tired smile. That one little gesture told him that she was going to be okay. And that was all he needed for his world to be right again.

  * * *

  Graeme
woke just before sunrise and reached for Elle. He found an empty bed. Sitting up, he looked around, and realized his dog had abandoned him also.

  Grabbing a pair of jeans, he stepped into them, zipping but not buttoning them. He looked out his bedroom window and saw his dog and his woman sitting on a rock. He stood there for a few moments watching the two of them. In just a couple of short weeks, this woman had become all that was important to Graeme. Nothing else mattered in the world if things with Elle were not right. He needed her to be okay, to be happy.

  After a quick trip to the bathroom, he went into the kitchen. The coffee had brewed, so he poured them both a cup—doctoring hers how she liked it—then headed out to her. He approached her, and realized she was wearing one of his T-shirts. She was sitting next to his dog, wearing his shirt, and enjoying his view. It felt good. It felt right. This woman, this place, with him.

  “Did you have problems sleeping?” he asked.

  The moment Dumfries heard Graeme’s voice, he rose and trotted over to say good morning. It was as if his dog understood the duty of protecting Elle, and he was handing off the job to Graeme. After a sniff at the coffee, Dumfries ran off to explore.

  She smiled back over her shoulder. “Not really. Just a bad dream, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I could hear the water and decided to come out here.”

  He handed her a cup.

  “Thank you,” she said. When she took a sip, her eyes widened and then she smiled. “You got it just right.”

  He sat down beside her. “Of course I did.”

  She snorted. “Ever the McGregor.”

  They sat side by side, sipping their coffee.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

  “Nothing really. I just wanted to hear the water lapping against the rocks. It smells so good out here. Then I started thinking about yesterday.”

  He understood the confusion he heard in her voice. It still hurt that Will had been the killer all along. Of course, he was refusing to comment, and had decided to hire one of the toughest criminal defense attorneys in the state.

  “Do you think they’ll ever find the gun?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Not sure. I have a feeling he ditched it somewhere. I’m still surprised we didn’t find it in his house.”

  She nodded, apparently agreeing with him, but she said nothing else. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and the morning buzz of birds was starting.

  “I was thinking.”

  “That is always a dangerous thing,” she said, humor lacing her voice. She glanced at him with a smile on her face, but it faded. Probably because he was trying hard to stay serious. This was a serious discussion. “Is there something wrong?”

  He shook his head. “No. Just, you seem to like it here more than at your house.”

  “I can hear the water. I like that.”

  “Aye.” Bloody hell, he was starting to sound like an extra from Braveheart. “And there is a little more room in my house.”

  She looked at him. “What are you getting at?”

  “What would you think of moving in here?”

  She didn’t say anything right away, and he panicked. “I know that you might not want to live here with us without anything permanent.”

  “Us?”

  “Dumfries and me.”

  She smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. “Of course.”

  “I want to marry you.”

  Coffee sloshed over the top of her mug. “Oh, bloody hell, that was hot.”

  “Marriage scares you that much?” he asked.

  She sighed. “I’m not sure I want to be married. Not this fast. I’m not sure I’m ready to move in with you either. We’ve only been involved for a couple of weeks, Graeme.”

  “I’m good enough to sleep with, but not marry?”

  She blinked. “I married Gerald after knowing him for less than a year. We were in such a rush, and it wasn’t until later that I realized what was wrong.”

  “What?”

  “I thought I loved him, but there was always a part of me that must have known I did not. I didn’t truly trust him, and that was one of the biggest failings in our marriage. Looking back on it, I can tell that neither of us trusted the other, or we would have been honest with our feelings.”

  Irritation sparked. He knew it wasn’t fair, but it angered him...and it hurt.

  “Well, great. You didn’t love him, but you married him.”

  “Yes, and look what happened. First problem was the loss of the baby. Then, we used work to communicate, to make it feel like a marriage. When that went wrong, everything fell apart.”

  He looked out over the water. He hadn’t planned on proposing to her, and he shouldn’t have done it. It wasn’t the right moment, not with everything that had gone on the day before. He wanted her to be his. He didn’t need a bloody ring on her finger, but he wanted some kind of commitment. It wasn’t exactly logical after their short time together, but he didn’t want to waste another minute.

  “Graeme, please look at me.”

  He hesitated, not wanting to face her...to face the fact that she had married another man she didn’t trust or love.

  “Graeme.” This time her tone was more insistent.

  He turned to look at her. The trades had picked up and were tossing her short curls around. Graeme barely noticed because she was smiling at him.

  “I know I love you, Graeme, so I want to make sure we get it right. I don’t want just for right now. I want forever. I think we both deserve it.”

  His heart sang, but he had to be sure. “It’s not because of what happened? You’re not saying you love me because of what happened with Drew?”

  She shook her head. “You know when I realized I loved you? Saturday.”

  He thought back to the wedding, to the way everything had progressed that day. He had known there was something different, felt it.

  “When we were dancing?”

  She shook her head. “No. Before the wedding. You were asking about the kilt and the Hawaiian shirt, and I just couldn’t help it. You were so worried about making sure you honored Del and Emma with the way you dressed. You care so much for the people around you. It touched my heart and opened my eyes. I love you, Graeme Arthur McGregor.”

  “How did you know my middle name?”

  “Looked it up in your file,” she said with a laugh.

  “I love you, Eleanora Catherine Middleton.” He leaned closer. “You’re not the only one who can look things up in files.”

  She laughed and brushed her mouth over his. She pulled back before he was ready.

  “I like the idea of moving in here, but I have a couple months left on my lease.”

  For a moment, he wasn’t sure he heard her right. His breath seemed to tangle in his chest, as his brain tried to compute the words. A second or two later, he could breathe again. She wanted to move in with him. She wanted to be his.

  Graeme cleared his throat. “We can work that out. It will give us time to rearrange my house for your things.”

  “Smashing,” she said. “And, you have to agree that if either of us feels pressured, we tell each other. I don’t want secrets like that between us.”

  He nodded, content with the plan, then wiggled his eyebrows. “How about we go christen the deal?”

  “That sounds brilliant, but first, I want to sit here and watch the sunrise with you.”

  Graeme couldn’t argue with that request. He slipped his arm around her, and she settled her head against his shoulder. Together, with the the birds singing their morning songs, and the scent of plumeria in the air, they watched the sun rise over the water.

  Thank you so much for purchasing Elle and Graeme’s story. If you enjoyed the story, please think about leaving a review at your favorite online retailer or telling your friends and family about Hostile Desires.

  Mel

  Seductive Reasoning

  Task Force Hawaii, Book One

  He has a killer to
catch and no time for love. Fate has other plans.

  Former Army Special Forces Officer Martin “Del” Delano has enough on his hands chasing a serial killer and heading up TASK FORCE HAWAII. He definitely doesn’t need the distraction of Emma Taylor. From the moment they meet, she knocks him off his feet, literally. Unfortunately, she’s the best person to have on the team to make the connections to help them catch their killer.

  For Emma, it’s hard to ignore the lure of a man like him. Tats, muscles and his Harley cause her to have more than a few fantasies about Del. He’d never be interested in a geek like her, but she can’t resist toying with him. When she pushes the teasing too far, she ends up in his bed. She convinces herself she can handle it until the moment he steals her heart.

  Del can’t help falling for the quirky genius. She’s smart, funny and there’s a sweet vulnerable side to her that only he can see. As Emma gets more involved with the investigation, she becomes the target of the psychopath. When the danger escalates, Del promises to do anything to save the woman who not only captured his heart but also his soul.

  * * *

  Martin Delano stepped out of his pickup and shut the door, as a light trade wind danced over his skin. He slipped his shoulder holster on, then looked up and down the street. Finding no traffic, he jogged over to the other side, following the lights set up by the Honolulu Police Department.

  Being former military, he should be used to the early morning wakeup calls, but it didn’t mean he had to be happy about it—especially this morning. The lights burned his eyes. Damn, he was getting old when he couldn’t seem to make it up and at work without a cup of coffee. He should have grabbed one before he left his house in Hawaii Kai.

  Police tape marked off the spot, and a very serious looking young officer in uniform stood by the entrance. His militant expression told Del this was his first big assignment. The kid raised his hand as if to stop him…or die trying. God save him.

  He wasn’t in the mood.