Page 139 of Nowhere to Hide
“He may have been keeping tabs on us, but I don’t know if he wasn’t able to travel or maybe he even has a day job that prevents it.”
She made a humming sound. “I didn’t think about that. The normalcy of his real life versus what he’s been doing.”
“Yeah. Profiling isn’t my wheelhouse.”
“There’s still more you’re not telling me.”
I cupped my hand around her knee. “He’s killed again.”
Her hand shook as she set down her glass. “He did?”
I rubbed her leg. “Twice.”
“Oh, God.” The tears spilled down her cheeks silently. “Because of me.”
“No. Because he’s a piece of shit. It’s not because of you.”
“Because he can’t get to me.”
I set my untouched beer down and pulled her into my arms. “Because he’s sick.” I kissed her temple, then her tearstained cheeks. “Because he can’t get what he wants. And he’s not getting through me. He’s never getting to you.”
“You can’t know that.”
I settled her on top of me until she straddled me. She drew in a quick breath as her muscles stretched. “Is this okay?”
She nodded. “Yes.” She pressed her face to my neck and encircled my shoulders. “Don’t let me go.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
I rubbed her back until she finally relaxed.
She didn’t know The Kendrick Group version of me. She knew the obsessive fucked-up grief-stricken man, but she didn’t know the focused part of me that was damn good at my job.
I’d be that man again for her.
I had no fucking choice.
CHAPTER 28
CILLA
I must have dozed off.I came to halfway down the hall in Locke’s arms.
I turned my face into his neck. “You must be so tired of carrying me.”
“Not a chance.”
He set me down on the edge of the bed and helped me out of my sweater. I hadn’t bothered with a bra after my shower. His eyes heated at the skimpy tank I wore, but I could feel him withdrawing.
I took his hand and put it over one breast. “I need to forget for a while.”
“Cilla, you need rest.”
“I need you.” I slipped under the hem of his shirt and touched his muscled belly. I pushed it up and pressed a kiss along the furred skin at the top of his sleep pants. “Just you.”
He reached behind his head and tugged his shirt up and off. “As if I could tell you no.” He framed my face with his big hands.
The kiss was slow and drugging. He was unhurried in his pace, making me a little crazy. I wanted to lose myself in him. Push all the shit away in the way only he seemed to be able to do.
