Safe by His Side

by Debra Webb

  Raine suppressed the grin that tugged at his lips. Kate had no intention of allowing him to get the better of her. He was beginning to wonder if maybe she was going to get the better of him. Kate Roberts had gotten deeper under his skin in the last thirty-six hours than anyone had in his adult life. It wasn’t just the physical attraction either, and that was stronger than any he had experienced. It was the way she could turn his resolve to mush or make his insides twist just by looking at him. The sound of her voice made him want her.

  Raine didn’t want to want her. Somehow he had to get this crazy need back under control. He forced his gaze from her towel-clad body. Looking at all the silky skin revealed by her lack of clothing wasn’t going to help.

  Raine scanned the television channels for a while. As usual, nothing caught his interest. Eventually Kate got back into bed. Perched on the far edge, she kept her back to him. Still bored and restless, he allowed his gaze to linger on Kate’s bare shoulders. His groin tightened. Damn, he had to get this woman out of his system. Disgusted with himself, Raine ran through the channels once more.

  But how could he not think about her when he was stuck with her at least for a few more days?

  Fear. She was definitely afraid of him on some level. That was the ticket. If he could keep her afraid of him, then she would never let him too close. That was the answer. Raine pushed the power button on the remote, turning the television off. He settled farther down into the bed without getting under the covers. No way was he going to chance coming in contact with her bare skin. That would be a big mistake.

  And tomorrow he would concentrate on fear and intimidation, his specialties. Sweet little Kate would never know what hit her. She would keep her distance then. Raine felt a smile pull at his lips as he drifted into much-needed sleep.

  RAINE WOKE at 6:00 a.m. His left arm was draped over Kate’s breasts, his face buried in the curve of her neck. His left hand had tangled in her soft hair. Even the smell of cheap soap couldn’t mask her womanly scent. He could feel the heat of her body all along the front of his. It would be so easy to tug the sheet down, ease his body over hers and take what he wanted. Would she resist after he used his lips and hands to persuade her? He didn’t think so. Raine had seen desire in her eyes more than once. She wanted him, too. Maybe not as much as he wanted her, but the need was there.

  Raine rubbed a strand of dark, silky hair between his thumb and forefinger. So soft, so sweet. He doubted that Kate had had much experience with men—especially men like him. His whole body tightened at the thought of how hot and snug she would be. He wanted to taste her, to bury himself inside her. To forget for just a little while.

  Raine set his jaw hard. He allowed himself one last deep draw of her scent before he moved away from her enticing body. That line of thinking would get them both killed. He had to keep his mind on business. Disgusted with his intense state of arousal, Raine picked up his jeans and shirt and headed for the bathroom. He’d give Kate a few more minutes to sleep. She had tossed and turned a lot during the night. He wondered what demons chased her. She seemed entirely too young and innocent to have any significant demons, but looks could be deceiving, as he well knew.

  Maybe she wasn’t what she seemed at all. Maybe, she was bait—sexy, beautiful bait. Raine tensed. He hadn’t considered that particular possibility until now. He stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been used that way to trap him.

  “You’re a fool,” he told his doubting reflection. He had already lost his perspective entirely when it came to Kate Roberts.

  That was a mistake, a big mistake.

  After he had dressed, Raine picked up Kate’s clothes and sat down on the side of the bed. He turned on the lamp and looked at her closely. The sheet and towel had slipped down, revealing one firm breast, but that wasn’t what caught his eye. She was even paler than she had been the day before. The bruise on her temple looked a nasty shade of red. Her rose-colored lips weren’t quite as rosy as before and the dark circles under her eyes were much darker.

  Something was wrong, but they had to put more miles behind them before they stopped for any length of time. Still, Raine had an uneasy feeling about the way she looked. He glanced at his watch. Six-fifteen. They had to get moving.

  “Kate, wake up.” Raine shook her gently. “Kate, you need to get up and get dressed.”

  She sat bolt upright, pulling the sheet over her as she went. She surveyed the room, her searching gaze instantly alert. Raine frowned. This was the second time he had noticed that waking reaction. He eyed her suspiciously. This kind of response definitely warred with his instincts about her. Whatever Kate had to hide was lost to her as well, and that provided Raine with a safety net of sorts. But what about when she remembered? He would deal with that when and if the situation presented itself.

  “What now?” she asked, shoving long silky strands of hair behind her ears.

  “Get dressed. We have to get moving.” Raine pushed up off the bed and crossed the room. He stared out the window while he waited for Kate to get ready. One way or another he would refocus his perspective, especially where she was concerned.

  After a full ten minutes in the bathroom, she finally pulled on her coat and announced that she was good to go.

  Though the sun was shining, the early-morning air cut straight to the bone. It was a damn good thing they didn’t have to do any mountain climbing today. Raine glanced back at Kate, who had fallen behind. He frowned again. She didn’t look as if she’d make it the few blocks they had to go. He waited for her to catch up before continuing.

  Kate didn’t ask any questions or make any comments when he led her into the bus station and used a clean credit card to purchase two tickets for New York City. She sat quietly and obediently. Another indication that something wasn’t quite right.

  When they boarded the bus, Raine ushered Kate to an empty seat in the back. Still, she didn’t protest.

  She sat next to the window, staring into the distance. Raine relaxed into the seat and closed his eyes. He hadn’t ridden a bus in a long time; now he remembered why. Noisy, uncomfortable and smelly, just to name a few of the less pleasant points. But, it was a means to an end. His pursuers wouldn’t expect him to take a bus.

  “Why are we going to New York?”

  Raine cracked one eye open and looked at his traveling companion. “I thought you were giving me the silent treatment?”

  “Never mind,” she muttered, then turned back to the window.

  That damn guilt again. Raine cursed himself for feeling it. “I have a command performance in New York,” he said quietly, irritated that he felt compelled to give her an explanation. “An old friend wants the pleasure of my company so badly that he’s willing to kill for it.”

  Friend? Raine almost laughed out loud at his misnomer. He didn’t have any friends in the true sense of the word, least of all the man he had most recently betrayed. Raine forced the image of Sal Ballatore from his mind. They were enemies, nothing more.

  Kate turned back to him, her eyes wide with uncertainty and the slightest hint of fear. Raine knew that he had to pursue that avenue if he was ever going to keep his sanity. He’d been in this business too long to screw up because he couldn’t control his lust for a woman.

  “Have you really killed hundreds of men?” she asked in a tentative voice.

  Raine smiled at the question. Where in the hell had she heard something like that? Danny, maybe. He leaned a bit closer and pulled his most intimidating face. “Do you really want me to answer that question?”

  She swallowed tightly. Her voice trembled a little when she answered, but she kept her gaze locked with his. “Yes.”

  Raine lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “I don’t know. I never really kept count. It’s probably a fairly accurate estimate. But there is one inaccuracy.” Raine leaned even closer, crowding her. “They weren’t all men, some were women.”

  Kate drew back as far as possibl
e against the window. She tried without success to mask the stark fear that stole across her features. “Are you…do you kill people for money? Is that what you do?”

  Raine laughed softly. His answer had evoked just the response he had hoped for, but he really hadn’t expected the second question. “No. I don’t kill people for the money, exactly.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath, licked her lips and then hit him with another one. “Then why do you…kill people, exactly?”

  Raine forced the smile to fade from his lips and turned up the intimidation a notch. “If I told you the answer to that, then I’d have to kill you, too.”

  Chapter Six

  He was only joking, Kate told herself for the one hundredth time that day. She had asked a stupid question and she’d gotten a stupid answer. Kate twisted in her seat and stared out the window into the blackness.

  The day had stretched into a lifetime. Kate’s head still ached, but not as much as the day before. The pain and weakness in her muscles had grown undeniably worse. Maybe she wasn’t accustomed to such a rigorous physical workout. Mountain climbing obviously wasn’t her forte. Whatever the case, Kate felt exhausted and limp, as if her bones had melted, leaving her incapable of the slightest exertion. Even after a night’s rest and the endless morning sitting on a bus, she still didn’t feel refreshed. If she had ever been this tired before, she didn’t care to remember that particular event.

  She had hoped that with the dawning and passing of a new day, more memories would surface as well, but they hadn’t. Raine had remained distant, in his own little world. He had spoken to her only once the entire day and that was to inquire whether she wanted to eat during one of the extended layovers. They had eaten in silence at a fast-food restaurant next to the bus station.

  Kate passed the afternoon away watching the landscape go by and mulling over the few snatches of memory she could recall. The words and warnings didn’t make any sense. The voice—the woman’s voice—seemed familiar, yet no name or face emerged from the gray haze that hid her past. The phrase “call in” stirred the most emotion for her. The words seemed deeply entrenched, like a lesson gone over many times. On an elemental level Kate knew that she needed to follow that instinct the moment she remembered the number again.

  Eventually the day had turned once more to night, and darkness enshrouded them. Kate relaxed back into her seat and, with the gentle rocking of the large silver bus, drifted toward sleep. Just before sleep took her, the thought occurred to Kate that she had yet to catch Raine in even a nap. Vaguely she wondered if he slept at all. Of course not, she decided as she gave in to her body’s need to shut down, machines don’t need to sleep.

  THE GENTLE, rhythmic rocking had stopped.

  Abruptly, Kate jerked awake. Raine was telling her to get moving. The other passengers had lined up single file down the long center aisle to wait their turn to exit the bus. Ignoring her body’s protest, Kate pushed out of the seat and followed Raine off the bus and into the all but empty station. A handful of travel-weary people waited for their connections or for a loved one to pick them up. Kate scanned the sleep-deprived faces and wished she was like them—on her way home.

  Home. Where was home? she wondered.

  Virginia. Her driver’s license had been issued in Virginia. Maybe that was home.

  “What time is it?” Kate asked, then shoved her hands into her pockets and huddled into her parka as they exited the building. The night air seemed colder than it had been in Bryson City. They were traveling north, so that would make sense. “What time is it?” she repeated, increasing her pace to keep up with Raine’s long strides on the uphill trek. The landscape seemed hilly, as if the city was carved into the side of a mountain, but nothing Kate saw clicked any recognition. In fact, she had seen about all the mountainous territory she cared to see in this lifetime.

  “One thirty-five,” he said without slowing down.

  The bus had stopped so many times, with a couple lengthy layovers, there was no way Kate could gauge the distance they had traveled in time. She surveyed the sleeping town Raine seemed determined to cross on foot and came to one conclusion very quickly—they definitely weren’t in New York City. She had been to New York. She didn’t remember when or how, but she had been there. Kate remembered the skyscrapers, the traffic at all hours of the night. This wasn’t the Big Apple.

  Raine walked up the dark, quiet sidewalk as if he had a specific destination in mind. The long bus ride had made Kate’s overworked muscles stiff and lethargic. She grimaced with each step she took. She hoped like hell that Raine didn’t intend to walk from wherever they were to New York. If so, she was out.

  “Where are we?” Kate forced herself to maintain his pace so he couldn’t ignore her question.

  “You don’t recognize it?” He stopped, and leveled his penetrating blue gaze on her.

  Kate’s feet stopped before the rest of her did. When she had steadied herself, she hesitated before answering. Was this a trick question? Should she know this city? She looked around again, taking in the one- and two-story buildings and an array of storefronts. Nothing at all looked familiar. “No,” she finally admitted.

  “Charlottesville, Virginia,” he told her.

  Raine watched her reaction carefully. Kate struggled to keep her face clear of emotion. Virginia. That was supposed to be home, but nothing about this place felt like home. Panic swept through her, a cold, harsh reminder that she had lost her past. Lost herself.

  Suck it up, girl. Don’t let him get to you. Just because you lived in Virginia doesn’t mean you’ve ever been to this particular town. “I thought we were going to New York,” she reminded. Good move. Turn the tables on him. Make him squirm for a change.

  He looked away then. “There’s something I have to do first.”

  Without further explanation, Raine resumed his journey to God only knows where. Kate had little choice but to follow. After all, she had practically no money, no memory, no nothing. She could only stick to him and hope it was the right thing to do.

  After crossing two more streets, they entered the dimly lit cobblestone entrance of a large hotel. Now this, she acknowledged thankfully, was a hotel. The well-kept exterior beckoned to the weary traveler. The lobby looked warm and welcoming.

  Fortunately there were plenty of rooms, so Kate was able to have a separate bed. The moment they entered the room, she dropped her coat to the floor, kicked off her shoes and sprawled out on her big soft bed—the one farthest from the door, per Raine’s insistence. Kate closed her eyes and sighed. She had died and gone to heaven. Now, if only she never had to move again. Well, just one last move, she told herself as she tugged the spread over her body. Kate burrowed into the thick cover and relaxed completely. She didn’t care what other amenities the room might have.

  She didn’t open her eyes again, but she could hear Raine moving around the room. Kate didn’t care what he did as long as he left her alone. She was so very tired, even breathing seemed an effort. The aroma of coffee brewing couldn’t even rouse her. Tomorrow she would worry about trying to find home. If Virginia was home, surely she could find her way from here. All she had to do was give Raine the slip and hide from the bad guys who were after him. Simple enough.

  Kate sleepily moaned her disbelief. Giving Raine the slip wouldn’t be quite so easy. He didn’t miss a single detail. Sometimes she wondered if he could read her mind. What a strange man. A paradox.

  A cold-blooded killer. Kate shuddered and hugged the spread more closely. Danny had said that Raine had killed hundreds of men, and Raine hadn’t bothered to deny it. In fact, he seemed rather proud of it, unremorseful. But something inside her—intuition maybe—kept telling her to trust him. She had no idea if she could really trust him or not, but one thing remained certain—Raine could have killed her long ago had that been his intent. He had taken care of her so far. She would just have to go with the flow. What else could she do?

  FOUR A.M. The lighted display shone brightly in the da
rkness. What had awakened her? Kate strained to listen. Thunder exploded and lightning flashed across the darkness. It was storming outside, she realized with relief. She squinted at Raine’s empty bed. Where was he? The next flash of lightning answered her question. Raine stood at the window staring out at the storm.

  Kate disentangled herself from the covers and slid out of bed. She padded across the room to stand next to him. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she rubbed her eyes to clear them. The brooding silhouette he made against the dim glow of neon and violent displays of nature’s fury made her shiver.

  “Nothing. Go back to sleep.” He didn’t spare her a glance, but continued his relentless gaze into the stormy night.

  Lightning streaked across the sky again, followed closely by two more brilliant flashes, giving Kate a heart-stumbling view of Raine’s bare chest and unsnapped jeans. Her eyes followed the golden trail of wispy chest hair until it disappeared into the half-zipped fly of his jeans. Desire coiled, sending a spear of heat through her middle. She blinked when the darkness returned as suddenly as it had vanished. Had she been openly gaping at the man’s body? Yes, she had. Kate couldn’t bring herself to meet the gaze she felt analyzing her. No doubt he had also noted her preoccupation with his bare torso.

  Kate pushed a handful of hair away from her face and wet her lips. She had to say something—she couldn’t just stand there like an idiot. The next flash of light brightened the entire room and the clap of thunder boomed so loud that Kate jerked, then staggered in its wake.

  Raine grabbed her by the shoulders and steadied her. There was nothing tender about his grasp. He held her too tightly and too close, willing her to look at him.

  “I’m okay,” she managed to say, though her body denied her words by trembling uncontrollably. She couldn’t look at him. Part of her wanted desperately to touch him, but another part—a much wiser part—wanted to pull away, to run. “I’m okay,” she told him again when he didn’t immediately release her.