The next morning, she kissed him awake. He opened his eyes and saw her over him, saw the light in her eyes, and he groaned softly as he levered her instantly onto her back and rolled onto her body.
"No," she whispered quickly, blushing when he loomed over her with virile intent. 'Tm sorry,'' she said miserably. ''But it hurts...."
He breathed slowly until he could calm his blood. His hand smoothed over her soft breast. "I took you four times," he whispered, lifting his eyes back to hers. "I hurt you."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Oh, no, you didn't hurt me."
He brushed his lips over hers, and then over her eyes. "But I would if we made love now?"
"I'm afraid so."
He sighed and rolled onto his back. “I should have thought about that. I'm not properly awake. Do you want some coffee?"
"Yes. I'll make it."
She started to get up, realized she was undressed, and pulled the sheet demurely to her breasts.
He glanced at her, following her embarrassed gaze to his own body. He made a sound and threw his legs over the side of the bed, carelessly tugging on his briefs and jeans and socks while she watched.
"You can dress while I shave," he said. He didn't look at her.
She watched him with soulful eyes that he didn't see. I love you, she wanted to say. But he wouldn't have said it back, even if he had made love to her like a man out of his mind with it. He loved her. She was certain of it now, and her eyes adored him.
"Get a move on," he said from the doorway. "We'll be late for work."
"Oh. Of course."
He didn't mention what had happened. Not by word or inference did he refer to it. He was all business.
Tess had expected resistance. She wasn't surprised by his attitude. He was a man afraid of emotion, and he had every reason to be. He couldn't be sure even of Tess. She knew that, and wasn't offended.
"Helen said I could go with her at lunchtime to that stakeout," she began as they finished toast and coffee.
He glared at her. "No."
"Let me finish, please," she said quietly. "I'm going to be the decoy. While people are watching me, she's going to be following them."
"You'd be too vulnerable," he said shortly. "Helen isn't being stalked by dope peddlers. You are. No, ma'am. You'll be where I can see you, all the time. I'm not trusting you to anyone except me."
She blushed. "All right."
He scowled darkly. "And don't get any ideas about what happened last night. That was a one-off, do you hear me?"
Her eyebrows lifted. "A one-off?" she asked.
His cheeks went ruddy. She looked surprised that he could refer to something so profound in such a way. He was surprised at himself. He glared at her, his heart racing. "What did you expect me to say?" he asked coldly. "That it was the closest I'll get to heaven without dying?"
"Not really," she agreed. "But it was. For me, I mean."
"I hurt you."
Her eyes lifted, searching his. "At first," she agreed. Then she smiled.
His breathing went ragged as the memory of the pleasure they'd shared washed over him. Just looking at her aroused him. He got up from the table, slamming his napkin down. "Let's get out of here," he said roughly.
She went along without an argument, wrapped in acres of dreams and delight because she was loved. He would fight it. That was inevitable. But in the end, he was going to lose. He couldn't resist her any more than she could resist him, but she had to give him time. She couldn't rush him. Not with so much at stake.
Her only regret was that a child couldn't come of the beauty they'd created together. She would have loved a child so much.
Once they got to the office that morning, problems claimed their attention immediately, and for Dane, it seemed to be a relief. He got into the thick of it without a backward glance, leaving Tess to sort out schedules and appointments.
The past few days had been so eventful that Tess had all but forgotten the night she'd been shot. Her arm was a little sore, and it had gotten a workout last night. She flushed and smiled, remembering Dane's mouth on the healed wound. She'd touched his scarred back and shoulder and leg with equal tenderness, stroking it while he made love to her, whispering that it was a badge of honor, a war wound. It had increased the pleasure. She could still hear his voice as he cried out, almost sobbing as the force of ecstasy lifted him over her and shook his powerful body like a whip.
She caught her breath. Could he really believe something that beautiful was only explainable as a "one-off"? She knew better. He did, too, but he'd been hurt so badly that he couldn't accept it just yet.
Her attention was diverted by the telephone, but as the day on her body reminded her of the unusual activity it had been subjected to the night before. It was difficult to sit, though she didn't dare mention it in case someone became suspicious.
At lunch, she watched the operatives who were in the office leave; luncheon, so she was in the office alone. He probably hadn't realized she would be by herself when he'd refused to let her go out with Helen for the noon meal. Well, she'd walk up the street to the fast food restaurant and get chicken and biscuits. It was better than nothing.
She put on her coat and locked the office behind her. Her mind was on Dane instead of on where she was going. The sudden shock of a man's hand clamping over her mouth surprised her into stunned immobility.
"Here you are, pretty thing," a rasping voice said harshly. "Right on schedule. When I'm through with you, you won't be in any hurry to tell a jury what you saw!"
Chapter Six
Tess couldn't remember ever being quite so afraid. The man had her in a half nelson, and he was slowly dragging her to the front door of the building, where another man was sitting in a running car.
This couldn't be happening, she told herself. She couldn't let it happen. A knife was being held at her ribs, and she felt the certainty of death like black ice on her tongue.
If she let him get her into the car, she didn't have a prayer. She would die. They'd carry her off and then certainly kill her. Desperate men, desperate deeds. The car the other man was driving was an expensive brown sedan, and they were both wearing suits. These were no run-of-the-mill street people, no lower-rank mules. These were men who made millions on the despair and desperation of weak people, and they certainly wouldn't mind killing anyone who stood between them and their livelihood.
Dane had known that. But Tess hadn't realized it until now, when it was too late.
There was a chance, only a brief one, that she might get away before the men got her into the car. When he opened the door at the front of the building, he was certainly going to have to take that knife away from her rib cage for an instant. If she was quick and kept her head, she might get away.
Her heart raced madly. She was shaking all over, but she couldn't give way to panic and fear. She kept telling herself that, going over everything she'd learned from the operatives, the slick little moves they'd taught her about how to get away from a potential attacker. She'd listened and learned. Now those lessons were going to pay off.
She went along with him, acting terrified to throw him off guard. She pleaded with him tearfully to set her free. All the time her mind was working, going over and over the one move she was going to employ when the time came.
It was working. She felt him begin to relax his painful grip. He laughed. He was enjoying her fear. The front door was a foot away. He moved toward it, the knife lifting as he raised his arm to push open the glass door.
Just as he raised it, Tess brought her elbow into his diaphragm with a vicious jab. As his chin came down, she brought the back of her fist up to meet his nose, and felt blood on it. Reacting swiftly, she tore away from him while he was doubled over and ran up the side street toward the crowded main street. It was noon, and people were everywhere. Thank God! The men wouldn't dare risk taking hold of her with a crowd around her. She ran, panting, not daring to look back.
She merged quickly into a gro
up of people waiting for a red light to change. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a car speeding up the side street toward her. They wouldn't, she thought feverishly, they wouldn't...!
“Tess!"
She looked. It was a Mercedes, and Dane was at the wheel.
''Dane!" She ran across the side street and scrambled in beside him, throwing her arms around his neck and shivering.
He brought her close for an instant, barely aware of his surroundings in the stark terror he'd just experienced. He'd rushed back to the office, hoping to get there before the operatives left. He'd seen Tess running and the other car suddenly speed away. His choices dwindled immediately to getting to Tess or giving chase. That was no choice at all.
His mouth crushed down over hers for one long instant before he dragged it away and turned the car down the wide street into traffic. He didn't let go of Tess. He couldn't.
"They almost had me," she whispered breathlessly. "One of them grabbed me as I started out of our office. He had a knife at my ribs...."
"God," he groaned harshly, pulling her closer.
"Helen taught me how to defend myself against somebody holding me from behind," she said. Her cheek moved against the soft fabric of his jacket. "I remembered it. I caught him off guard and got away." She grinned, now that it was all over. "It was very exciting," she said, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him. "I can see why... Dane?"
He pulled off the street into a parking space and sat, white-faced, his hands trembling on the steering wheel. He didn't speak or look at her.
"It's all right," she said softly. She moved, reaching up to draw his head down to hers. She kissed him slowly, nibbling at his lips, his nose, his closed eyes. Her arms slid around him and she pressed close, her face finally sliding against his hot throat and resting there. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered. "You forgot that you'd told me I couldn't go with Helen."
"I didn't forget," he said unsteadily. "I left in plenty of time to get back before the office emptied. But I had a flat on the way."
"Dane?" she murmured.
"Let me hold you, Tess," he said, his voice torn. "Don't talk. Just let me hold you."
She did, sighing as the peace of the embrace finally got through to him and calmed him. He felt guilty, she supposed, although God knew why he should. She didn't blame him. She smiled against his throat and kissed him just below his Adam's apple. She was about to say that for a man who didn't love her, he was certainly excitable. But she thought better of it. He was vulnerable. He wouldn't like having her point it out.
He drew in a rough breath, and she glanced up at him. His eyes were frightening. He touched her face with warm, hard fingers. "Did he hurt you?"
"No," she assured him. Her eyes sparkled. "But I hurt him. I think I broke his nose."
He whistled softly. "I'm going to have to talk to Helen."
"You wouldn't teach me," she said defensively.
"Thank God she did. I'll treat Helen and Harold to the biggest damned anchovy pizzas they can eat," he mused.
"That's nice." She laid her forehead against his chin. "Can I have one, too? I'm hungry."
"Poor little scrap, you haven't eaten." He put her back in her own seat and fastened her seat belt, his hands brushing against her body accidentally and setting her tingling. "You can have a pizza if you want one."
Her eyes melted into his, adoring, acquisitive.
He bridled at that look, at his own vulnerability. He didn't like having her see him when he couldn't hide his disturbed state from her. She might think he was emotionally involved. Ridiculous, of course. All the same...
He bent and put his mouth softly over hers, kissing her gently. "From now on, if I have to leave the office, I'll make sure someone's with you. I'm sorry, Tess. Damned sorry."
She smiled. "I told you, it wasn't your fault." She stared at his mouth dizzily. "Kiss me again."
"Too public," he murmured, drawing back. He indicated throngs of passersby.
"We could eat at the apartment, couldn't we?"
"No, we could not," he said gently, reading her expression all too well for his peace of mind. "In the first place, you'll need days to recuperate from what I did to you last night. In the second place," he said, his expression growing sterner by the second, "from now on, you're going to sleep in your own bed, not mine. I won't let that happen again."
"Why not?" she asked softly.
His thumb rubbed slowly over her chin and he looked worried. "Because I don't want commitment," he reminded her. "I won't ever forget how it made me feel to be your first lover. But you want forever after. I don't believe in it anymore. I've had my illusions shattered."
"You might change your mind," she said. "I might grow on you."
"You already have. But I can't marry you," he said bluntly.
"Listen to me, Tess. You think you love me, but you don't have any experience of men except what you've learned with me. One day, sex won't be enough for you. You'll want a child."
"I love you, Dane," she said simply.
His cheeks darkened and his eyes seemed to kindle, but he fought down the fever those words initiated. "You don't know what love is," he replied quietly. "You think it's two bodies in bed."
Her eyes searched his. "What we did together last night was much more than two bodies in bed. We made love, Dane," she said. "Made it so beautifully that I can't imagine ever letting any man but you touch me as long as I live."
His eyes closed. He felt that way, too, but he couldn't tell her. His feelings were locked up, chained.
"It was sex," he said coldly, forcing his eyes to open and stab into hers. "And you're damned lucky I'm sterile or you'd really have a problem."
"I wouldn't have thought so," she said, smiling.
He gazed out the window blindly. "Anyway, it's a moot point," he said. He started the car. "We have to report this to the nearest precinct. Assault with intent is a felony. I'll have that—" he employed some old ranger language "—in jail by sundown, and he won't get out this time, not if I have to call in a few markers and have some old friends help me surround the courthouse!"
She could picture a throng of cold-eyed Texas Rangers holding a courtroom at gunpoint. She laughed gently.
"How can you laugh?" he demanded. "God in heaven, don't you realize how close you came to being killed?"
"Nerves," she told him. "Reaction. Yes, I realize it. I remember thinking I wouldn't see you again," she added, adoring his face with her gray eyes. "It made me sad."
He looked away. He'd had too many shocks lately, all of them to do with losing her. He put the car into gear and pulled out into traffic. He lit a cigarette and didn't say another word all the way to the police station.
Helen gloated later when she found out that Tess had used her instructions to foil a kidnapping. Dane was in a black temper that lasted all day, even if he did unbend enough to give Helen a bonus for teaching Tess how to survive an assault. But he watched Tess openly, his mind on the dope peddlers. He'd never felt so homicidal.
While the office was full of armed operatives, he made his way back to the police station, to talk to the sergeant who was handling the case.
"Nothing yet," Sergeant Graves told Dane when the two men were in the former's office. "We've got feelers out, but those two rats have gone down a hole somewhere. They probably knew we'd pull out all the stops after what they did. Your secretary was damned lucky, do you know that? Tomby, the man who tried to abduct her, got off once on a murder charge for lack of evidence. I don't doubt he'd have killed her if he'd gotten her into his car."
“Neither do I," Dane said stiffly. He didn't want to think about that. He'd go crazy. "I'm volunteering my staff to help find them. I can't risk having Tess at their mercy again."
"We'd appreciate the help," Graves replied. "With your background in police work, you know how much there is to do and how inadequate our staff is. People don't realize the time it takes to run down felons, or the bureaucracy that stands between law
enforcement and the justice system."
"God, I do," Dane said heavily. "You try being a ranger. You'll get an eyeful."
The older man smiled wistfully. "I did try. Couldn't pass the oral exam. God, those old-timers are thorough!"
“And damned mean, some of them." Dane chuckled.
"They have to be. Everyone remembers the story of the single Texas Ranger who got off the train after he was called to put down a full-scale riot. The townspeople were astonished that one man was expected to accomplish all that. The ranger just drawled, "Well, you've only got one riot, haven't you?"
"One man was usually enough," Dane replied.
"I've got a hunch about these two men we're after," Graves said suddenly, after the laughter diminished. "They're high-class suppliers. There's a man named Louie on parole for distributing. He has some ties to the same underworld element these two are involved with. I'd like to lean on him a little, unofficially."
Dane smiled slowly. "Got an address?"
The other man returned the smile and scribbled something on a piece of paper. "You don't know where you got this," he cautioned.
Dane nodded as he got to his feet. "It was in my pocket when my jacket came back from the cleaners," he promised.
"Good luck."
"We could both use a little of that."
Back at the office, Dane gave the address to Adams with some instructions. At closing time, he made sure Tess was with him every minute until they got back to his apartment.
He threw off his jacket, an action she watched with possessive familiarity. Living with him had her spoiled. She loved being with him. Once the men who'd assailed her were caught, she'd have to go home. Her face paled at the realization.
He turned, rubbing a hand around the back of his stiff neck, and caught her expression. "What is it?" he asked gently.
Books By Diana Palmer Page 103