Truth or Consequences

by Diana Duncan

  Maureen must have possessed a faerie queen’s hearing, because she developed a sudden coughing fit. A masculine snicker sounded from behind Zoe, and she turned to see Con, his arm around an amused, but trying to hide it, Bailey. When had the bride and groom arrived? Zoe glanced to her left, and realized she and Aidan were surrounded by his entire family. Grady studied Zoe, his gray-green eyes lit with speculation, and Liam chuckled.

  Aidan narrowed his eyes. “This is no joke.”

  Zoe shook her head. “Absolutely not. And if you’d stop being so…” Pigheaded probably wouldn’t win her any points. Then again, she was clinging to the last dregs of patience with her cop. “So…”

  “Uptight?” Liam supplied helpfully.

  “Headstrong?” Con chimed in.

  “Intense?” Grady added.

  “Defensive,” Zoe amended. “And just listen—”

  “Very helpful, little brothers.” She could hear Aidan’s back teeth grinding from where she stood. “Nothing like ganging up on a guy.”

  Zoe exhaled a sharp breath. “I am not the enemy. Well, I wasn’t before you…before this afternoon. Now, I’m not so sure.” She gazed around at the curious faces fixed on them, and turned to leave. “Um…later.”

  Aidan stopped her with a hand on her arm, and glared at his brothers. “Does the peanut gallery mind if I have a private conversation here?”

  Con smirked. “Not at all. Go right ahead.” Bailey surreptitiously elbowed her new husband’s ribs, and he grunted.

  Maureen shot Aidan the disobey-me-and-die look perfected by mothers around the globe. “Perhaps you should dance with our guest. And mind your manners, boyo.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Aidan growled. “Good idea. Probably the only way we can have a conversation without an audience.” He took possession of Zoe’s hand and towed her toward the dance floor.

  “None of the A-man’s ladies ever talk back to him,” Liam muttered as Aidan whisked Zoe past. “If you ask me, he needs an irreverent woman.”

  “I’m not his woman,” she hissed over her shoulder. The last thing she wanted was an emotionally constipated male. That would be no different from living alone. Worse, in fact.

  Over by the DJ’s station, Letty waved at Zoe, and as if on cue, a new song began. “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Sexy, romantic music to fight by.

  Aidan pulled Zoe into his arms. “All right. What do you have to say that is all-fired important enough to disrupt my brother’s wedding?”

  “As if you didn’t know, Mr. Artful Dodger.” Held closely in his strong embrace, his clean, masculine scent washed over her, muddling her resolve. She shook her head in a futile attempt to clear the sensual haze. “I didn’t mean to start anything here. I only wanted to make sure I caught you immediately afterward. Before there are consequences, and it’s too late.”

  One big, capable hand swallowed hers and snuggled it to his shoulder, while the other slid around her. Her dress bared the small of her back to his broad palm that intimately cradled her body. The erotic friction of warm skin against skin sent shivers racing over her. His deep voice rumbled in her ear. “The damage is done. Let’s have at it.”

  He held her gaze as they swayed. The seductive music wrapped them in a cocoon, wove a captivating spell. Her breasts pressed into his unyielding chest, where his heartbeat pounded beneath the tux. His rock-hard thighs brushed hers in a sensual caress. His warm breath feathered through her hair, sending tingles over her scalp and down her spine.

  With his body joined so intimately to hers, there was no mistaking the fact that he was aroused. Very, very aroused. And she was drowning in the deep, mysterious pools of his incredible eyes.

  “Zoe.” Her name rolled off his tongue. Meant as a warning, it sounded more like he was savoring rich, intoxicating wine.

  She inhaled shakily. Battling to gather her splintered concentration, she attempted to pull away. “Um…I’d better wait in the car. I’ll meet you outside when the reception is over.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t.” He held her tightly, thwarting her escape. “You came spoiling for a confrontation,” he murmured in her ear. “And I’m going to indulge you. Right here, right now.”

  Chapter 7

  9:00 p.m.

  “I don’t want to make a scene here.” Zoe’s frantic gaze darted over Aidan’s broad shoulder. As capable at taking the lead on the dance floor as everywhere else, he’d discreetly maneuvered to a side door.

  “We’re not.” He glided them outside, and into the parking lot.

  “Oh, you—” Fury surged back with a vengeance. He’d done it again. Muddled her mind with blatant sex appeal and caught her off-balance. It was all just a ruse to gain strategic advantage. His erection pressed into her stomach, and she jerked out of his arms. Okay, that he couldn’t fake. But sexual attraction was nothing more than basic chemistry.

  A dozen insults battled for freedom behind clenched teeth, but she believed in fighting fair. Stick to facts and no dirty tactics. “You seduced me this afternoon, against my will.”

  “What?” He looked and sounded as shocked as if she’d suggested that he run back through the reception naked.

  She hadn’t meant to bring up the subject of seduction. Silently counting to a hundred, she marched deeper into the parking lot, brightly illuminated by the full moon overhead and rows of domed light poles. She found herself standing beside her Corolla. Good. If she needed to make a run for it, her trusty wheels would be handy.

  Aidan followed, and she dragged in a deep breath. “You stole something very important from me.”

  “Ah. Came to that conclusion so soon?” He pursed his gorgeous lips. “As you judiciously pointed out, if something is free for the taking, technically, it isn’t stealing.”

  “You used me.”

  He stepped closer. “I did not seduce or use you. Like you, I took advantage of an opportunity to gain what I needed.”

  Confusion battled to the top of her warring emotions. “Are you trying to tell me the sizzle between us was…is unintentional?”

  “As the Chernobyl disaster, honey.” Clearly frustrated, he thrust a hand through his hair. “If it helps any, I don’t like it any better than you do.”

  Confusion retreated under dismay. She’d been right. He despised his attraction to her. She’d been furious with him for seducing her, yet finding out he hadn’t done it on purpose made her even more upset. He’d steamed her veggies without even turning up the heat. He had way too much power over her. “So you didn’t deliberately get me…uh…hot and bothered to distract me?”

  “No. In fact, I thought I’d hidden my feelings better.” He again stepped closer. Ha! She was wise by now to his favorite intimidation maneuver and didn’t give an inch. He frowned. “While we’re slinging accusations, you want to tell me your motives are totally altruistic?”

  Zoe opened her mouth to retort, then hesitated. Honesty was her creed. The Greek word for truth literally translated to “unforgetting.” She could never forget that she didn’t know who she was or where she came from. Therefore, truth was much more important in every other aspect of her life. Even furious, she wouldn’t lie to herself or him. “I admit, I am hoping that nailing the DiMarco investigation will bump me up at the station. I need money to move my mom here. But I also sincerely want to help your family.”

  “We don’t want your help. Don’t need your help.”

  “Really?” She keyed open her trunk and sardonically waved her survival bag, now much lighter because it held only her usual supplies. “Without me, you wouldn’t have the hard drives you swiped while I was in the shower.” She looped the bag over her shoulder, an automatic gesture. “Replacing them with similar-sized books so I didn’t notice until I got home was vilely brilliant, by the way.”

  “They’re evidence.”

  “Don’t cops have rules about stealing evidence?”

  “They didn’t actually belong to you, either. Besides, as long as evidence is in plain sight—and due to the rip i
n your bag it was—it’s considered legally obtained and admissible in court.” He crossed his arms, and his biceps bunched under the tailored jacket. “Which might not be the case if you tamper with it. You have plenty to keep you busy trying to piece those shredded documents together.”

  She should have known he was too smart to buy the plant-mulch ploy. She stepped closer this time, practically nose-to-nose. Two could play space invaders. “You haven’t had time to give the hard drives to the FBI.” She hoped.

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “I want them back.”

  He shrugged, and tension crackled in the air. “Isn’t gonna happen.”

  “They’re mine. I did the research. I found the link. I dug them out of the garbage.” Anger rode her hard, and she poked him in the chest with her index finger. “Until I get them back, I’m going to stick closer than your shadow. You won’t be able to sneeze without me saying gesundheit.”

  He wrapped his hand around hers and held it to his chest. Under her palm, his heart pounded like a war drum. His eyes flashed fire, but his grip was gentle, his voice brushed velvet. “You don’t want to go one-on-one with me, Zoe. You can’t win.”

  “Hide and watch. I would have shared what I found with you. But why should I play fair when you don’t?”

  Without warning, the truth slapped her in the face. She was more upset over his betrayal—over the fact that he’d only pretended to care—than at losing hard-won evidence.

  Disillusionment sliced her anger into sharp little pieces that hurt, and scalding tears pressed behind her eyelids. “You washed my clothes and fed me and showered me with charm and concern…and it was all a lie.”

  He swallowed hard, his eyes hot and intense. “I didn’t lie to you. With words or actions.”

  She choked on a valiant struggle not to cry. In spite of her efforts, a single tear leaked out. “I’m left with nothing. While you got what you really wanted.”

  “No, sweetheart.” His voice had gone husky. His smoky gaze locked on hers, then followed the tear trailing down her cheek. “If I’d gone after what I really wanted, I’d have done this.” He tugged her to him and covered her mouth with his.

  His soft, full lips tasted her, tantalized her. Stunned shock quickly fled, leaving only desire. His hand cupped the back of her head, urging her to the perfect angle for his plundering mouth.

  She relaxed in his embrace and opened to the searing intimacy. His tongue thrust inside, silky hot. The world shuddered to a halt as his mouth devoured hers. Pleasure, as pure and brilliant as the moonlight, raced through her veins. She couldn’t think, could barely breathe and didn’t care. She kissed him in return, the sensual rhythm as instinctive and natural as the dance they’d shared.

  Heat and energy arced between them, and he groaned, a low, ragged sound. His need tasted dark and dangerous in her mouth. His heartbeat raged against hers, evidence of his tenuous hold on control. He took, yet gave back so much more, and raw, elemental passion inside her blazed to life.

  Trembling from the onslaught of desire, she slid her arms around his neck. Burrowing closer to his hardness and heat, she both took and gave in return.

  Aching to devour him, she nipped his lower lip, and a primitive growl rumbled from his throat. He deepened the kiss, fiercely, arousingly feasting on her as if only she could sate his hunger. Fevered madness broke over them with the awesome power and glorious heat of a summer storm.

  He possessed her, claimed her. He was everything she’d ever wanted, everything she’d dreamed. She didn’t have the words, and told him the only way she could. With her kiss. She felt his defenses crumble, and he responded by revealing his hidden world. Opening his heart. For a brief, shining moment, she discovered a place where she fit.

  Triumphant joy sang inside her as she savored their shared emotions. Reveled in their unparalleled connection. There was no one before Aidan, would be no one after.

  With one kiss, he’d won her…body and soul.

  Her knees weakened at the revelation. Then a thunderbolt exploded inside her brain, and everything went black.

  Aidan crawled out of unconsciousness to muddled awareness. The last thing he remembered was kissing Zoe. He’d teetered on the edge of the map, and then plunged right over the edge. But instead of falling into darkness, he’d found light.

  Found life.

  Found the part of himself he’d thought lost forever.

  His wary instincts had been right on the money regarding the sexy reporter. She wasn’t a threat to his family.

  She was a threat to his heart.

  He shook off a surge of fear. In a combat situation, knowing every detail about your destination, opponent and ultimate mission goal was three-fourths of the battle. Now that he was fully briefed, he’d manage this fatal attraction the same way he did everything else. With unfailing logic, stubborn Irish determination and steely self-control. All he had to do was develop a viable tactical plan and stick to it.

  He blinked, attempting to clear his vision. Where was he? Nothing was visible in the inky blackness. He’d been slammed with a stunning revelation, to be sure, and their kiss had crackled with electric heat. But he’d never passed out from a kiss before. He’d never passed out, period.

  He had been blitzed a time or two, but this was far worse than any hangover. He felt like roadkill. His weakened muscles ached, his dry, gritty mouth rivaled the Sahara, and his head pounded as though an escaped prisoner was drilling an exit hole out the back of his skull. He’d only felt this rotten once before—in SWAT training when he was required to take a hit from a Taser. He hadn’t lost consciousness then, but whoever had attacked him must have ramped up the voltage.

  He tried to stretch and found himself pinned in a fetal position in the tight, dark space. His right wrist snagged on something, and he yanked. Metal rattled, and his arm moved heavily…handcuffed to…what? Using his free hand, he gingerly explored his surroundings. He was cuffed to another person. Judging by the soft tangle of limp extremities, his companion was an unconscious female. His fingertips brushed a lush mouth, pert nose, closed eyelids and short, silky curls.

  Recognition slammed home, and horror sank sharp talons into him. Zoe! The shape of her features was engraved on his heart. If his alertness hadn’t been compromised, he’d have instantly recognized her by scent alone.

  He couldn’t feel any breaths whispering from her parted lips, and his chest tightened. Praying as he never had before, he pressed two fingers to her throat. His own pulse stopped until he felt hers beating slowly but steadily under his fingertips. A sigh of relief burst out of him.

  “Zoe.” He patted her cheek. “Can you hear me?”

  She whimpered, and his guts cramped. How long had he been out? Had the assailants hurt her?

  “Zoe, wake up.”

  She stirred slightly, and moaned something incoherent, but didn’t regain consciousness.

  His heartbeat hammered in his ears. So help him, if they’d hurt her, he would kick asses and ask questions later. “C’mon, honey,” he murmured. “Wake up.”

  She moaned again, stiffened, and then cried out.

  “Hey, now. It’s okay.” He gathered her carefully into his embrace. “It’s Aidan. Are you hurt?”

  “Aidan?” She flailed, her panic palpable in the heavy darkness. “It’s pitch dark! Get me out of here!”

  “Shh. We need to be quiet.” She was his to protect, now. He didn’t question it. Didn’t balk. Simply accepted the heart-shaking responsibility. “Zoe, listen to me.” His voice low, he held her close, trying to still her thrashing. “You have to stay calm. Take slow, deep breaths.”

  “Help me!” Vibrating with terror, she clutched his jacket lapels and buried her face in his shirt.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, sweetheart.” He curved his body in a shield around hers and hugged her tighter. “Did they hurt you? Tell me.”

  She inhaled a deep, shuddering breath. “I feel terrible.” Another faltering breath, as he h
eld his own. “But not injured. What happened? Were we hit by lightning? Are we dead?”

  “We’re very much alive.” Relief filtered through him, more strongly this time. If Zoe was asking questions, she was okay. “You’re not far off the mark with the lightning, though. I think someone Tasered us while we were kissing.”

  “What? You mean like a stun gun?”

  “Yeah. It short-circuits the central nervous system and causes temporary paralysis. Higher voltages can render a person unconscious.” He stroked her soft wrist, bound in cold steel. “Apparently, they handcuffed us together and stuffed us in the trunk of a car.” Or a large metal coffin. Wisdom precluded mentioning that grisly theory.

  “Oh.” She hesitated. “Wow. I wonder how much of the jolt was from the kiss and how much from the Taser?” He’d debated the same question.

  Every jerky movement of her tight, quivering muscles divulged her valiant struggle for control. “Why would anyone want to kidnap us?”

  “Who have you ticked off lately?” he asked wryly, and again kept his suspicions to himself. No sense in upsetting her more. “Besides me?”

  “Nobody.”

  “That must be a first.”

  “Nobody I know of, anyway.” She burrowed nearer. Any closer, and she’d be inside his jacket. “Maybe they’re after you, SWAT.”

  “And brought you along for the ride? I doubt it.” His enemies were liable to just blow him away. He gently rubbed the satiny skin of her back, pleased when her trembling eased a fraction. She’d constantly annoyed him over the past six months with her daring, but now he thanked heaven for her dauntless courage. If they were gonna get out of here in one piece, he needed her firing on all cylinders and not immobilized by fear.

  “Nobody will know I’m gone until I don’t show up at work on Monday. Except Evander. I hope he’s okay all alone.” She sounded so forlorn, Aidan was tempted to kiss her again. Merely to comfort her. Yeah, right.