Deadly Reckoning

by Elle James

  Out on the highway following the curve of the cape, Kayla drove slowly, her gaze straying to the rearview mirror with each passing mile. Once, she thought she saw a vehicle behind her, but she rounded a bend in the winding coastal road before she could be sure. When the road straightened again, there it was.

  Kayla’s pulse leaped, but she took a deep breath and focused grimly on the road ahead. She’d seen the car this time—at least she wouldn’t be caught off guard. And if she was able to speed up enough, she might be able to outpace him. Her foot jammed down on the accelerator, but the faster she drove, the faster the vehicle behind her closed in.

  Her breathing grew more ragged as she fought to keep the SUV from careening off the wet road. If she could make it to the cottage first, she could get inside, lock the doors and call for help.

  When she made the turn onto the drive down to the cottage, she shrieked and held on to the steering wheel until she had the SUV under control. Once the vehicle straightened, she mashed the gas pedal. She went shooting down the narrow gravel driveway, then slammed on the brakes, sliding to a stop inches from the porch.

  She fumbled for the door handle, shoved it open and ran as fast as she could, keys in hand.

  Another vehicle slid sideways at the head of the driveway and screamed down the gravel road toward her.

  She jammed the key toward the lock, but it wouldn’t go in. She was blinded by fright, deafened by the roar of blood pounding in her ears.

  “Please, God. Please open.” Too afraid to look back, she tried again. This time the key slid into the lock and she turned it.

  A car door slammed behind her and footsteps crunched in the gravel.

  Chapter 10

  “Kayla! What the hell?” Gabe rushed up the front porch of the lighthouse cottage, his heart pounding.

  “Gabe?” She stopped halfway through the door, her hand on the knob, and looked back.

  “What the hell were you trying to do? You were driving like a maniac. Are you trying to kill yourself?” He tipped her face up to his.

  The slowly fading fear in her eyes made him feel as though someone had hold of his heart and was squeezing it so tightly it couldn’t beat. “Oh, baby.” He took hold of her arm and guided her into the house, leading her over to the sofa. “Stay here.”

  He hurried back outside, closed and locked her car door, then returned to the cottage, shooting the dead bolt home behind him.

  Kayla curled into the cushions of the couch, her arms wrapped around herself, but when she saw him standing in the entryway, she shook her head, straightening. “Don’t look at me like that—I’m fine. It’s nothing. I was just being paranoid.”

  “You have every reason to be paranoid. Now, tell me why you tried to race me to the cottage.” He sat beside her on the sofa and slid his arm around her.

  Kayla nestled against him, her cheek pressed against his uniform, her fingers curling into the fabric.

  “A car hit us from behind when I took Dakota home in the rain. We almost ran off the side of the road at the drop-off.”

  Gabe stiffened. “Did you see the car?”

  “No. It was pouring down rain—I could barely even see the lines on the street. And once we were rear-ended, it was all I could do to keep the car on the road. If not for the guardrail, Dakota and I…”

  “Would be dead. No wonder you tried to race me to the cottage.” He hugged her tighter. “You thought I was him.”

  She nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “Why didn’t you call the police?”

  Kayla shrugged. “The car had disappeared, what could the police do? I couldn’t begin to describe it, it all happened in the rain, the vehicle was nothing but a blur in my rearview mirror. Besides, I knew I’d see you soon enough.”

  Gabe sucked in a deep breath and slammed his fist into the armrest. “Damn the bastard!”

  Kayla jumped, her eyes wide.

  “I can’t get my arms around this case. He’s here, and I’d bet he’s right under our noses, but I can’t put my finger on him.”

  Gabe wanted to call the crime lab and tell them to hurry it up, but they couldn’t perform miracles. Even if they did find a hair or skin sample on the ski mask, the killer’s DNA might not be in their database.

  He’d spent the day checking on more of the newcomers to the area, listing, questioning and documenting any lead he could come up with. Which didn’t amount to anything. All he had was the ski mask, which may or may not have belonged to the killer and may not contain anything that would link to his DNA.

  Kayla’s hand rose to caress his cheek. “At least you’re trying.”

  He turned his face into her palm and kissed the smooth, soft skin. Then he brushed his mouth across hers in a kiss as soft as the brush of a feather. “I’m still mad at you.”

  “I know.”

  He kissed her again. “Promise you won’t scare me like that again?”

  “I promise.” Her hand tightened on his face, drawing him closer, deepening the kiss.

  He let himself drink of her warmth, her softness, the gentle person she was. Then he pushed away. “I can’t do this.”

  She blinked up at him.

  “I can’t lose focus.” He set her on the sofa beside him and stood. “He could be watching us now.”

  Kayla’s gaze shot to the picture window where the steely-gray, rain-washed sky had darkened into inky black.

  A flash of lightning split the murky sky, followed closely by the rumble of thunder. Gabe noticed the way Kayla shivered—but she shook it off a second later, forcing a smile to her lips.

  “One good thing about my speed-demon driving,” she said. “I got us here before the rain started up again.”

  Gabe didn’t reply. What could he say? That he hated that he’d scared her? That he wanted to hunt down the man who’d planted such fear in her heart in the first place? That it was nearly unbearable to stand there and not reach out to touch her? He wanted to go to her, to take her in his arms and hold her there until all the bad disappeared. But he couldn’t. Not with so much at stake. Not only Kayla, but Dakota and the baby, as well.

  His hands clenched at his sides.

  Another bolt of lightning flashed across the window.

  “I don’t think he’s out there,” Kayla said. “Not right now, at least. A man would have to be suicidal to skulk around the cliffs in this kind of weather.”

  “He’s still out there, somewhere,” Gabe replied, his voice tight with tension, his eyes focused on the window to keep from looking at her.

  Warm fingers touched him, and Gabe stared down at Kayla’s hand on his arm.

  “But he’s not here,” she said. “Not right now. It’s just us.” Her hand slid up his arm to his shoulder as she stepped in closer, pressing up against him.

  As if of their own volition, his arms rose, cinched Kayla’s waist, pulling her close, their bodies melding, his groin tightening.

  “Come on, we have better places to be than this window,” she whispered in his ear.

  He lifted her, settling her legs around his hips and carrying her to the bedroom. Even as he stepped over the threshold, he knew, this time, there’d be no going back. He’d never be able to maintain distance between them. Their destinies were as entwined as their bodies.

  Her legs clenched around his middle and she pulled back enough to slide her lips across his. She slipped her tongue between his teeth, thrusting and parrying with him in a desperate, sensuous duel.

  Her center rubbed across the ridge beneath his zipper, setting off explosions of awareness he couldn’t douse. “Slow down.” He pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her cheek, her forehead, the tip of her nose. Why couldn’t he get enough of this woman? She’d held back telling him the
truth once. Hadn’t he already learned his lesson about trusting women? Was Kayla any different from Siena?

  “I can’t slow down. I want you.” She rose up and then lowered herself, the effect adding friction to his trouser-bound erection.

  He grit his teeth, fighting an internal battle he was sure to lose. “We shouldn’t. You’ve just had a scare, you’re worked up—”

  “And you make me feel safe. Hold me, and make the world go away.” Kayla grabbed his hands and pressed them against her breasts. “Please.”

  Gabe moaned. “You’re making it hard on me.”

  Kayla smiled. “That was the idea.” She unhooked her ankles from around his waist and let her feet fall to the ground.

  Gabe held her hips until she steadied. Then his hands smoothed down her thighs, bunching the material of her skirt, dragging it upward until he reached the thin string of her panties. He hooked the elastic and dragged them down.

  She rubbed herself against his fingers, urging him closer, her hand closing over his, guiding him to her core. Warm moisture coated his fingers, which he slid up between her folds, locating the swollen nubbin of her desire.

  He flicked the sensitive flesh.

  Kayla’s head tipped back, her hair tumbling down below her buttocks.

  Gabe’s other hand rounded her backside beneath the skirt, cupping her bottom, pulling her closer, while he continued to stroke and tease her core until she clung to him, gasping and calling out his name.

  “Please come inside me. Now.” She held on to him, backing him toward the bed, one hand over his, cupping her sex. When she bumped into the mattress, she sat, parted her legs and brought him to her. Kayla’s fingers fumbled with his thick, leather uniform belt, jerking it from the loops.

  He helped her push the button free on his trousers and slide the zipper down. He kicked off his boots and unbuttoned his shirt as her hands stroked the length of him.

  Blood burned his veins like fire, pooling low and heavy in his groin.

  When Kayla leaned forward and touched the tip of his member with her tongue, he almost came undone. His fingers dug into her hair, careful not to touch her stitches or to be too forceful as he pulled her to him.

  She took him into her mouth, her hands circling him, drawing him deeper.

  Gabe moaned and withdrew, the intensity of sensations so sharp they bordered on painful.

  Her fingers dug into his buttocks, urging him in and out, deeper and deeper until he bumped against the back of her throat.

  Lust surged like adrenaline, he had to have her. He slid free of her mouth, scooted her back on the bed and climbed up with her.

  Still constricted by her clothes, Kayla shimmied out of her blouse.

  Gabe captured one of her lace-clad breasts with his mouth and nipped at the tip, poking against the cup.

  Her chest swelled upward, her hands sliding the straps down over her shoulders.

  Gabe reached behind her, flipped the catch and dragged the bra downward, freeing her breasts.

  They were perfect, full, lush and tipped with rosy-brown nipples, puckered and tight, ready.

  He tongued the tip of one, bent and nipped, rolling the nub between his teeth.

  Kayla moaned, her back arching off the mattress.

  Gabe spread her knees apart with his own, then he pressed his erection to her entrance, poised to thrust.

  “Damn.”

  “What?” Kayla clutched his bottom and eased him into her.

  He resisted. “Condom. Do you have one?”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m clean. Are you?”

  “I don’t have any diseases.”

  “And I’m already pregnant, so you don’t have to worry about that.” She laughed shakily and dug into his buttocks.

  No longer able to resist, he slid in, surrounded by her warmth, her juices easing his entry. “God, you feel good.”

  “Mmm. You too.” She raised her knees, her heels digging into the mattress. “Harder.”

  Still holding back, he eased in and out of her. “Are you sure?”

  “Trust me,” she said.

  Trust her? He’d only trusted himself for so long, depending on his own capabilities to take charge and control every situation. But he couldn’t control anything about Kayla—not the killer who was after her, or the terrifyingly wonderful way she made him feel. Logic and reason told him to step back, stay detached, keep some emotional distance, but…trust me echoed in Gabe’s head. And he realized that he wanted to.

  The very thought was frightening.

  Like a switch being flipped, hot turned to cold, light to dark. Gabe froze in midthrust. “This is wrong.”

  “What?” Kayla stared up at him, her face flushed with passion. “Why? We’re both consenting adults. I want this. You obviously do, too.”

  “I can’t.” He pulled free and rolled onto his back, an arm thrown over his face.

  Kayla lay beside him as still as death.

  Gabe couldn’t make love to her while he was still so unnerved by his feelings for her.

  “Does this have to do with Dakota’s mother?” she asked, her guess dead-on.

  “No.” He answered immediately and without hesitation, but he knew it was a lie. He’d had other women since Siena, but after the abrupt, heartbreaking end of his first love affair, he’d always kept a degree of distance from his lovers, never letting his feelings overwhelm him. If they wanted more, he ended the relationship. He wasn’t willing to give all of his heart to anyone.

  Then he’d met Kayla and knew immediately that she was different.

  But could he let himself open up to her in a way he hadn’t done since he was eighteen? Was he ready to love like that again, to take that kind of risk? Was it even safe to do so, considering the danger she was in? Keeping a little distance before falling head over heels would probably be smarter, in terms of protecting her from harm.

  “What did that woman do to you?” Kayla’s fists clenched in the sheets.

  Gabe rolled out of bed and gathered his clothing. “I have to go.”

  She pushed her skirt down her legs and slipped her blouse over her head without replacing her bra. Her nipples showed through the white fabric, taunting him.

  “I’ll see if the chief can spare a uniform to stand guard on the cottage. At the least, he can send one by periodically to check on you.”

  The smudges beneath her eyes appeared even darker as she stared up at him. “And that makes up for the fact that you’re running away?”

  Gabe knew he was blowing it. “Kayla, I—”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s obvious that you and I weren’t meant to be.”

  “I need time.”

  “And I need a man who isn’t afraid to love.” She slid out the other side of the bed, tucking her shirt into the waistband of the skirt. “Just go.”

  He hated leaving with so much left unsaid, but he didn’t know what to say or how to say it, if he did. “I can send Dakota down to sleep on the couch, if it would help.”

  “No.” She pushed the hair behind her ears, but refused to face him. “Go ahead and send over a uniform if you’d like. With someone keeping an eye on things, I can manage the rest on my own. I’ll lock the doors. And like I said, no sane man would be out there in weather like this.”

  There was nothing left to say. Gabe grabbed his belt, shoved his feet into his boots and left, waiting until Kayla clicked the lock in place before he walked down the stairs and climbed into his SUV.

  He sat for a long moment, the engine running, his hands on the shift, every fiber of his being telling him to go back, finish what they’d started and damn the consequences.

  But he couldn’t invest his love in this woman
when there was so much at stake. The risks were just too high.

  Gabe shifted into Reverse, backed up and drove away, his heart burning, his thoughts in turmoil.

  When he got home, he entered the B and B, heading straight for his room, hoping to avoid conversation with anyone.

  Dakota met him on the stairs, coming down. “Aren’t you going to stay the night at Kayla’s?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Are you kidding?” Dakota threw his hands up. “Some jerk is trying to kill her and you aren’t going to be there to protect her?”

  “She doesn’t want me there. There are locks on her doors. I called the chief from the road, and he is sending a patrol by every hour to check on her. What more do you expect?”

  “I expect you to care.”

  Dakota’s comment hit Gabe square in the gut. He did care. He cared too much.

  His son continued, “She’s a nice lady. Someone who doesn’t deserve to die.”

  “Dakota, no one deserves to die.”

  “Yeah? Then why aren’t you there to protect her?” Dakota pushed past Gabe, ran down the remaining stairs and out into the stormy night.

  “Dakota!”

  “Let him go.” Molly sat in a chair by the fire, a book folded over her lap. “It just upsets him that she’s in danger, and he can’t do anything about it. He really likes her, you know. He’s been talking nonstop since he got home. Kayla this, Kayla that. You’d think she hung the moon by his account.”

  Gabe didn’t say it, but he thought she did, too. Then why the hell didn’t he let her into his heart?

  “That went badly, didn’t it?” Kayla said as she puttered around the cottage. “Now, don’t get me wrong, Baby, he’s a good man and he wants to keep us safe, but…sometimes, I just don’t understand him at all. Men can be like that. All we can do is hope he wises up. Soon. And in the meantime,” she continued, arranging her plate with flourish, “we dine!”

  Carrying a plate piled with a fresh salad and a sliced chicken breast, she sat at the dining table, within view of the big picture window.