Burn

by HELEN HARDT

  She clamped up against me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Can’t we just stay here?”

  “You know as well as I do that you can’t stay in a hole forever. I will be with you. You know my brother would take a bullet for you, and so would I. We will be perfectly safe in his house.”

  She relented, and soon we were on our way. As we got into the car, my phone buzzed again.

  Another text from the unknown number.

  Chapter Twenty–Two

  Melanie

  Something was bothering Jonah. He was a little tense, though not nearly as tense as he’d been the previous night with Bryce. I had never been to Talon’s home. As large as Jonah’s house was, the main house seemed twice as big.

  My skin warmed as we walked through the foyer, past the grand living room, and into the gourmet kitchen—again, twice as big as Jonah’s, which was bigger than I’d ever seen. The last time I’d seen Talon and Jade I’d been naked, sitting on the side of Jonah’s pool. That had been the day I sneaked out of Jonah’s house, explored downtown Snow Creek, and then traveled home, only to be…

  Everything seemed to come back to that. But I had a new lease on life at the moment, something new to explore in Gina’s alleged suicide. Perhaps she had been the victim of the same type of kidnapping that I had been.

  And…had I not been a victim myself, would I have even thought to explore the issue further? Most likely not. I hoped I wasn’t exploring in vain.

  “Looks like they’re out on the deck,” Jonah said.

  I took in a deep breath and followed him outside. I hadn’t bothered to put my boot back on, and I limped a little, but my ankle was quite a bit better.

  Jade and Talon I recognized, and two of the others weren’t difficult to pick out. The tall woman with long dark hair was a feminine version of her three brothers, and the other man was…wow. Talon had once told me that Ryan was considered the best-looking and most jovial of all three Steel brothers. He was indeed gorgeous—perfect features, perfect hair, perfect searing brown eyes. And he did have a smile on his face. But I looked toward Jonah. Nothing could compare with his rugged darkness.

  Talon smiled as we walked out. “Hey, Joe. Hey, Doc.”

  Jonah grabbed my hand. “Melanie, you know Jade and Talon. This is Marjorie, and this is Ryan.” He pointed out his brother and sister, and then he gestured to an older woman sitting at the end of the table, her legs boosted up on another chair. “And this is Jade’s mother, Brooke Bailey.”

  Marjorie came up to me first, holding out her hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I can’t thank you enough for…everything.”

  I attempted a smile. “Nice to meet you as well.”

  Then Ryan came forward. “So you’re this amazing doctor I’ve heard so much about.” He took my hand. “So great to meet you.”

  “You too.” Then words failed me. I didn’t really know what to say.

  “I hope you’ll pardon me if I don’t get up,” Brooke Bailey said.

  “Oh, of course not.” I walked over and shook her hand. “I hope you’re feeling well.”

  “I take it one day at a time, dear.”

  Her use of the word “dear” took me aback. I knew from talking to Jonah that she was only three years older than I was.

  Marjorie took charge. “Sit down, everyone. We’ve been doing Italian in cooking class for the past couple weeks. Tonight was good old-fashioned spaghetti and meatballs. For some reason, no one could stick around to eat tonight, so I got to take everything home. We have enough to feed a small army.”

  “And I brought my Italian blend. A perfect mélange of Sangiovese, Syrah, and Merlot,” Ryan said, bowing.

  “You’re a goofball,” Marjorie told him and then turned to me. “His wine is awesome. Just pardon his humility.”

  I laughed. “It smells wonderful. Thank you so much for inviting me.” And then I felt kind of stupid, because I hadn’t actually been invited. They had invited Jonah, and he had told them I was coming along.

  But Marjorie touched my forearm. “No problem at all. We should be thanking you for everything you’ve done for our family.”

  I was no doubt crimson by now, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  Ryan picked up a bottle of wine. “Do you like wine, Doc?”

  I attempted another smile. “I do.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah grinned at me. “She’s a red wine aficionado.”

  “I don’t know about aficionado, but I do like a nice red wine.”

  “You’ll love this, then,” Talon said. “Ryan’s a genius.”

  “Aw, shucks, Tal.” Ryan let out a boisterous laugh. “You’ll make me blush.”

  “As if anything could make you blush,” Talon said.

  Then everyone laughed as Ryan filled the two empty glasses at the table and invited Jonah and me to sit down.

  I inhaled. “It smells wonderful.”

  Stupid again. I’d already said that.

  Marjorie started to sit down but then popped back up. “Silly me. The garlic bread is still in the oven. Excuse me for a minute.”

  “And I whipped up a salad,” Jade said. “One of the few things I’m capable of. It’s in the fridge, so please excuse me.”

  Marjorie and Jade returned with the bread and salad, and the family began passing items around the table. I took modest amounts, even though I was starving for the first time in days. I didn’t want to appear too…what? When the garlic bread came around, I took two big slices.

  The food was delicious, and I didn’t talk much, but I didn’t need to. The family was happy and jovial, talking a lot among themselves. A few times a question was directed at me, and I answered succinctly. Jonah took part in the family conversation, though he still seemed a little rigid. I wasn’t sure why.

  After we finished dinner, Jade helped Brooke up from the table and came back about fifteen minutes later.

  “My mother sends her apologies,” she said. “She needs to lie down now and rest.”

  “That’s perfectly understandable,” I said. “It was so nice to meet her.”

  Jonah placed his hand over mine, in full view of everyone still seated at the table. His hand was warm and felt nice, gave me comfort. And he seemed visibly less tense. Maybe the glass of wine had done him good.

  “Now that Brooke is going to bed, I need to talk to all of you,” Talon said. “About Felicia.”

  I felt conspicuous. What was he talking about?

  Jonah squeezed my hand as if to offer me reassurance. “I haven’t told Melanie a lot of what’s going on.”

  “I can certainly leave if it will make everyone more comfortable,” I said. It would certainly make me more comfortable.

  “Of course not, Doc. I would’ve told you all of this by now anyway if we were having sessions.”

  I warmed. We weren’t having sessions because I had been required to take a three-week leave of absence. Gina Cates’s parents had filed a complaint against me with the medical board. If her parents were behind the attack on me, their complaint would have no bearing. However, I would first have to prove they were behind it, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to. Only Jonah and the police knew what had happened at this point, and tonight was not the time to divulge the information. Talon clearly had something else on his mind.

  Talon continued, “Felicia is our housekeeper, as you know. Has Jonah told you about the business card belonging to Jade’s ex-fiancé that we found lodged underneath the carpet in her bedroom?”

  I nodded.

  “There are three sets of fingerprints on it. We identified one set as Larry Wade’s. Jade matched them against the attorney database. One set we have yet to identify, although we are assuming they belong to Colin himself. The third set belongs to our housekeeper, Felicia Diaz.”

  “And Felicia is the nicest person in the world,” Jade piped in.

  “Yes,” Marj agreed. “None of us for a minute think she could be behind any of this.”

  “How did you get
her fingerprints?” I asked.

  “We all had our fingerprints taken after the card was found,” Talon said. “We wanted to make sure that we could rule out anyone in the house.”

  “I see,” I said.

  “Anyway,” Talon said, “She’s coming here to talk to us tomorrow morning at ten. Joe, I really need you to be here.”

  “Of course I will,” Jonah said.

  “And Doc, feel free to join us as well.”

  I shook my head. “I’ve never met Felicia, and I’m sure it would be more comfortable for her if she didn’t have a strange person there.”

  “Come anyway,” Jade said. “You can keep my mother company. She’d love that.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the morning making chitchat with the former supermodel, but it would save me from being alone in Jonah’s house. “Maybe I will. I’m sure your mother is a lovely woman.”

  I wasn’t speaking the truth, of course. I had heard the stories about how Brooke had abandoned Jade for her modeling career.

  “Anyway, we need to talk about how to handle this,” Talon said. “Felicia’s been with us for a long time.”

  “Yeah,” Jade said, “and she didn’t seem to get upset when you asked her to have her fingerprints taken.”

  “True,” Talon said, “but the only reason I gave her was that I was installing the new security system that would be fingerprint identified.”

  “I see,” Jonah said. “So she had no idea why we were really asking.”

  “No,” Talon said.

  “I think we should just be upfront with her,” Ryan said. “None of us really think she could’ve had anything to do with this.”

  “But then how did her fingerprints get on the card?” Jonah asked.

  “We’re all kind of stumped about that,” Marjorie said.

  “Are you sure we should all be here, Tal?” Ryan asked. “She might feel like we’re ganging up on her.”

  Talon rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. Maybe you have a point.”

  “I can definitely sit this one out,” Jade said. “I haven’t known Felicia for as long as the rest of you. I think the four of you siblings can handle things without me.”

  “I don’t know,” Marjorie said. “Ryan may be right. Maybe just you, Talon.”

  “No, I need some backup.” He looked to Jonah. “I need my big brother.”

  Jonah nodded. He would do anything for Talon. The guilt that he carried ensured that. But even if he didn’t carry so much guilt, I was sure he would do anything his brother needed. That was the kind of man he was.

  “All right. I’ll be here,” Jonah said. “And there’s one thing you haven’t mentioned.”

  “What’s that?” Talon asked.

  “We’ll need her to get a DNA test. If her fingerprints are on the card, that blood sample might be hers as well.”

  “He’s right, Tal,” Ryan said.

  “Jesus.” Talon rubbed the back of his neck. “How the hell am I supposed to ask for her blood on top of everything else?”

  “We’ll just do it,” Jonah said. “We’ll tell her it’s necessary.”

  I gazed at the man I loved. My God, his strength humbled me. He had everything under control, and he’d take care of it. All that guilt that ate him up inside hadn’t changed his core.

  He was more than robust and able-bodied. More than strong, both physically and mentally. Jonah Steel was potent. Powerful. Dominant.

  “It will work out,” he was saying. “I’ll be here, and I’ll bring Melanie to babysit Brooke.” He smiled.

  “Actually, if Jade and Marjorie are going to be here, you probably don’t need me to come and spend time with Brooke.”

  “Oh, no, feel free to come,” Jade said. “We’d like to have you.”

  “In fact, I think I’ll make myself scarce,” Marjorie said. “This whole thing is just so…surreal. I can’t imagine that Felicia is involved.”

  “You and I have been talking about taking a hike,” Jade said. “Why don’t we do it tomorrow morning?”

  That was that. I would be babysitting Brooke Bailey tomorrow morning.

  Jonah squeezed my hand. For some strange reason, I got the feeling he was trying to tell me something.

  Chapter Twenty–Three

  Jonah

  The thought of Melanie spending time with Brooke Bailey didn’t sit well with me, but I couldn’t do anything about it at the moment. I could hardly tell Jade her mother had come on to me, or that I was pretty sure she was stalking me via my phone. All I could do was give Melanie’s hand a squeeze, let her know I was there.

  Jade and Talon cleared the dishes, while Marj brought out a decadent flourless chocolate torte garnished with fresh fig cream cheese for dessert.

  “I made this three days ago,” she said. “It contains brandy, and letting it sit in the fridge for a few days really softens the flavors.”

  It was of course delicious, as was everything Marj ever made. I had two servings and a cup of coffee. Finally, I stood. “We should get going.”

  Melanie followed my lead, standing as well. “I can’t thank you enough for including me tonight. Everything was delicious.”

  Marj walked to her and gave her a hug. Melanie looked a little uncomfortable but returned the affection.

  “It is so great to meet you. I hope to see a lot more of you out here.”

  “Yes, please come around more often.” Jade rose and also hugged Melanie.

  “Thank you,” Melanie said, biting her lip.

  I was burning for Melanie. I wanted to get her back to my house and fuck her senseless. But I knew I needed to go slowly, just as I had before.

  Still, just to see her naked, in my bed—that would help ease my desire.

  Or make it burn stronger.

  Most likely the latter.

  We left the house.

  I drove home quickly.

  * * *

  Lucy ran to greet us when we got home. Melanie looked tired, and I imagined she was. It had been a tough day for her. I knew I had to leave her alone. Let her go to bed and rest, despite the hard-on raging beneath my jeans.

  She knelt down and gave Lucy a pet and a hug, and then she stood and let out a big yawn.

  Yeah, I needed to leave her alone.

  “Is there anything you need?” I asked.

  She smiled, and though her eyes were tired, the green sparkled with gold flecks. “Only you.”

  My pulse started beating rapidly, and my groin tightened even further.

  She put her arms around my neck and looked into my eyes. “I feel better today than I have in a while, Jonah, and I’m not just talking about after being kidnapped. I mean I feel better than… I don’t know. Better than I have since Gina died.”

  I smiled down at her. She’d used the words “since Gina died,” not “since Gina committed suicide.” I wanted to believe in her new theory, but I also feared she was seeing things that might not be there, hoping that perhaps Gina hadn’t killed herself and that she, Melanie, hadn’t missed the signs.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but—”

  She touched her fingers to my cheek. “I know what you’re going to say. But I don’t want to hear it right now, Jonah. I just want to bask in the fact that I’m feeling better. I’m looking at this whole situation from a different angle. I may be wrong, and I’ll deal with that if it turns out to be the case. But right now, let me feel good.”

  “I want you to feel good. Can I help you with anything?”

  She smiled again. “You can take me to your bed.”

  No sweeter words… I picked her up in my arms and carried her like a child, not to her guest room, but to my bedroom. Yes, she did need her rest, but I was not strong enough to deny her when she was asking for me.

  When we reached my bedroom, I walked through my small sitting area straight to my king-size bed. We had made love in this bed the day she had been taken. Again, unease crept up my spine. Was she ready for this?

 
But again, she was asking for it. For me. She would tell me to stop if it got to be too much. I would be gentle with her, as I had been, no matter what my libido wanted.

  She wasn’t ready to experience me fully. But one day…

  I had once believed she would succumb to my darkness.

  What if she never could? Could I spend my life without giving in to my most base desires in the arms of the woman I loved?

  And I did love her. I hadn’t yet said the words, even though she had said them to me. I was afraid. Afraid to divulge my full feelings and let myself become vulnerable…because eventually, when I told her the truth, she would leave me.

  But would she?

  Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she would understand.

  Whatever the eventual outcome, I didn’t need to think about it tonight. Tonight she needed me, wanted me. I would not disappoint her.

  I set her gently on the bed. “You show me what you want tonight, Melanie. I want to go at your pace. I want to give you what you need.”

  She smiled once more and touched my cheek, fingering my stubble. “I just want you. I want to feel you. I want to be with the man I love.”

  Her words lit a fire within me. I could hold back my deeper carnal desires, but I could no longer hold back my feelings. I took her hand from my cheek and pressed my lips against her palm.

  “I love you too, Melanie. My God, I love you so much.”

  Her smiling lips trembled, and her eyes became glassy, with tears emerging in the corners. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say those words.”

  I looked deep into her green eyes. “I hope you know that they’re not just words to me. I don’t say them lightly, and I’m not saying them just because you said them to me.”

  She bit her lip. She was adorable.

  “I know that. You would never say anything you didn’t mean. And I love you too. With all my heart.”

  “My God…” I crushed my lips against hers, lifting her forward and laying her flat on her back. I covered her with my body, kissing her, swirling my tongue with hers, my breath becoming rapid. My dick was hard, and I pressed against her thigh, wanting so much to grind into her.