Safe by His Side

by Debra Webb

  Raine shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  Kate blew out a relieved breath when he sauntered away. She closed her eyes and shook off the desire buzzing inside her. Her situation was screwed up enough without allowing herself to fall for a man like Jack Raine.

  …he’s the best in the business.

  If she could only remember what business.

  THE IMAGES weren’t clear, the voices slightly muffled, but the dream pulled Kate deeper into the abyss of nothingness. It’s your job to find out if he’s turned, the voice told her. And to bring him in either way. The words echoed inside her head, making her restless. She tossed and turned in the bed, lingering just the other side of consciousness. She wanted to wake up, but the dreams wouldn’t release her. She relaxed when Raine’s kiss replayed behind her closed lids. Warmth shimmered through her body, heating all the right spots. She wanted to hold him close, to show him he could trust her, to believe she could trust him.

  …you’re our best shot at getting close to this guy. Raine’s image shattered in Kate’s dream, replaced by the words, by sensations she couldn’t quite identify and faces she didn’t recognize. Someplace safe. Raine’s voice rushed into her head. He wanted her to be safe. Ballatore wants him dead. It’s only a matter of time before I catch up to you again. You’re a dead man walking, my friend.

  Kate’s eyes snapped open and the room slowly came into focus. She pushed the hair from her face and took a long, shaky breath. Dreaming. She’d only been dreaming. She quickly scanned her quiet surroundings. Raine’s house. She was safe. Sunlight spilled through the window and reached across the room.

  Safe. The solitary word tugged at something buried way behind all the strange images and voices in her head.

  And bring him in either way. The voice was Aunt Vicky’s, whoever she was.

  Kate frowned and struggled to recall her mixed-up dreams. Bits and pieces of conversation, snatches of images. Her father was a cop. Her brother was a cop and had died in the line of duty. She had wanted to be a cop and couldn’t because of her heart problem. She couldn’t measure up.

  Kate blinked back the sting of tears. Tears for a loss she couldn’t quite comprehend. She had lost a brother, but didn’t remember much about that brother. How could that be possible? She could remember something as life-altering as her brother’s death and still the rest of her past was a black hole in her brain.

  And bring him in either way. Who did she have to bring in? And why? If she wasn’t a cop, why would she be bringing in anyone? None of it made sense.

  She was safe.

  Raine had called this someplace safe. Safe for whom? Her? Him? Ballatore wants him dead. Would Raine hide here for the rest of his life? She didn’t think so. Raine didn’t strike Kate as the type to hide from anything.

  Then why come here? Someplace safe.

  Kate sat up with a start. He had brought her here so she would be safe. Jack Raine wasn’t afraid of death. He had risked his life for a lot less in the past. He had told her that. He had been on his way to New York—to Ballatore. Kate knew that fact with a certainty of which she could only guess the source. Raine’s only reason for this out-of-the-way stop was to tuck her away someplace safe.

  “Damn!” Kate threw back the cover and shot out of bed. He planned to leave her here—someplace safe—while he finished his business with Dillon and Ballatore. Lucas Camp was probably right. Raine intended to prove his innocence before he came in. Somehow he believed the usual channels had been breached, and he intended to do things his own way.

  Lucas Camp? Kate paused, her eyes rounded in bewilderment. Who the hell was Lucas Camp? Why did Raine need to prove his innocence? Innocence of what? Kate pushed her fingers through her hair. She had no idea what any of this meant. The only thing she knew with any measure of certainty was that Raine would not hide from his enemies. He would face them. He wasn’t concerned about his own safety.

  Kate stood absolutely still in the middle of the room and listened. Complete silence hung heavily around her. He was probably already gone. Kate dashed out of the room, checked the other bedrooms and the bathroom before taking the stairs two at a time. She searched the downstairs. Raine was nowhere in the house.

  The car. If he had left, he would have taken the car. Kate flung the back door open and raced across the yard. Though the sun beat down unusually warm for a November day, the ground still felt cool beneath her bare feet, but there was no time to worry about that at the moment. She skidded to a stop next to the muddy, black Thunderbird inside its makeshift garage. The car was exactly as Raine had left it. Even if someone drove up to the house, they would never be able to see the stolen vehicle without walking into this attached side section of the barn with a flashlight. Despite the lack of a door, it was dark as a cave this far inside.

  Kate frowned. If Raine hadn’t left in the car, then where the hell was he? Though she had no idea why, Kate knew that she could not allow Jack Raine to slip through her fingers….

  RAINE SHOVED the oil stick back into the engine and wiped his hands on a shop cloth. Everything checked out. He would have to give the real estate agent a bonus for going above and beyond the call of duty. The man had kept Raine’s house and vehicle in tiptop shape. He glanced up at the lights hanging overhead in the barn, if you didn’t count the one fluorescent bulb blinking overhead, that is. Of course, the lights out here probably didn’t stay on long enough for the blinking bulb to be noticed.

  For the time being, Raine used the barn for a garage to store his truck. But someday soon, he hoped to fill the numerous stalls with horses. He smiled to himself. He’d always wanted to be a cowboy. His smile faded into a frown. A pipe dream, nothing more. He knew better than to expect anything beyond this minute.

  Forcing his attention to the present, Raine glanced at his watch. There was still time for a quick shower before taking off. If he left now he could be in New York well before midnight. He couldn’t risk waiting any longer. Raine had already stored what he would need in the vehicle. An extra clip or two for the Beretta, and the Glock, his favorite weapon next to the Beretta. He didn’t like being caught without backup protection.

  A low creak sounded near the front entrance, jerking him from his unpleasant strategizing. Raine tossed aside the shop cloth and drew his Beretta. He eased around the fender and down the driver’s side of his Range Rover, then scanned the front of the barn. One side of the double doors stood open. His senses moved to a higher state of alert as his gaze followed the almost imperceptible sound of fabric rustling.

  He rounded the tailgate and stood column straight at the edge of the bumper. Raine braced himself, then swung around the end of the vehicle, arms extended, weapon leveled on the first thing that moved.

  Kate.

  Raine swore.

  Kate whirled around. Raine took a breath and lowered his weapon. “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that? Announce yourself when you walk into a room with an armed man,” he said crossly as he shoved the Beretta into his waistband at the small of his back.

  “I…I thought you left,” she stammered uncertainly. She shoved a handful of sleep-mussed hair behind her ear and met his gaze. “I was afraid…you had left…” Her voice trailed off.

  She didn’t say the word me, but Raine knew that’s what she meant. Her words twisted his insides. She had been afraid that he’d left her, and that’s exactly what he intended. Because he couldn’t trust her, and he desperately wanted to keep her safe. “I came out to check on…” He gestured toward the vehicle, but words failed him as his gaze moved over her body.

  Did she have no idea how tempting she looked standing there, all innocent and vulnerable? His shirt caressed her body in ways that made Raine’s mouth go dry. Barely covering the tops of her thighs and with one too many buttons left undone, the shirt revealed a great deal more than it concealed. He remembered how it had looked against her skin after her bath. Her long, mahogany hair fell around her shoulders like a waterfall of silk. The bruise o
n her temple had almost completely faded now. Those dark eyes were wide with worry as she braced one hand against the front fender to steady herself. Obviously he’d scared the hell out of her as well.

  He frowned. “Where’s your coat?” Though the temperature was unseasonably warm and he’d shed his own coat hours ago, dressed like that, she had to be cold. He allowed his gaze to sweep over her once more.

  She looked down at herself as if realizing for the first time her state of undress. “I was worried. I didn’t know where you were,” she murmured self-consciously. She slid one bare foot behind the other, as if trying to hide its nakedness. That innocent gesture pulled at him, made him want to protect her from any and all threats.

  Raine averted his gaze and plowed his fingers through his hair. There was nothing in this world he wanted more than to take her in his arms right now. To promise her that he would never leave her, that he would always protect her, but he couldn’t do that. If he touched her now, there would be no turning back. He couldn’t do that to himself, and he wouldn’t do it to her. Raine planted his hands on his hips and leveled an indifferent gaze in her direction. “I wouldn’t leave without telling you.”

  She moistened her lips. “So you are planning to leave.”

  Raine restrained the urge to shift. He’d spent a lifetime holding his reactions in check, emotional as well as physical. Nothing had changed, he told himself. The lie proved hard to swallow. “I didn’t say that.”

  “But you are, aren’t you?” She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin a notch. “You have to, don’t you?”

  Raine ignored the alarms going off in his head and took two steps in her direction. “My plans aren’t concrete yet,” he hedged. He’d actually planned to spend the night, but recognized the risk that he wouldn’t be able to stay away from Kate.

  She choked out a laugh and shook her head slowly from side to side. “You really expect me to believe that?” Kate pinned him with a gaze that shredded several more layers of his defenses. “My long-term memory may be off-line at the moment, but don’t insult my intelligence. I know why we’re here, Raine. This is where I get off, right? Did you plan to just dump me, or is this where you tie up your loose ends? Isn’t that what a professional does? I mean, you are a professional, right?”

  Disregarding his better judgment, Raine allowed the anger to erupt inside him as he closed the distance between them. He needed that particular emotion right now for protection—protection against the other much more precarious emotion he refused to acknowledge. He never second-guessed himself, he wasn’t about to start.

  He walked right up to Kate, directly into her personal space, and gave her his most intimidating glare. “When I’ve made up my mind I’ll let you know.” He kept his tone low and purposely threatening. “Until then, I would suggest that you don’t antagonize me further. I do things my way.”

  Kate met his glare with lead in her own. His anger seemed to strengthen her resolve. All signs of uncertainty had vanished. “I tell you what, tough guy, why don’t I save you the trouble. I’ll just take the T-Bird and leave now. Then you and your nice friends can play all you want without having me around to worry about.”

  Raine felt a muscle jerk in his jaw. “You’ll do whatever I damn well tell you to do,” he said quietly, coldly.

  Something changed in her eyes. A subtle, impossible-to-read shift. Instinct told Raine that he wasn’t going to like it.

  “Just try and make me,” she challenged, then brushed past him as she strode away.

  Hands still jammed at his waist, Raine watched in amazement as she stormed out of the barn. No, he didn’t like this at all. He didn’t tolerate insubordination. Grappling for control, he stalked after her. Halfway across the yard he snagged her by the arm and swung her around. She glowered at him, those dark eyes glittering with anger.

  “Don’t push me, Kate,” he cautioned. “I won’t let you get in the way of what I have to do.”

  “I’d say you’re a little late.” She struggled to free her arm, but he tightened his hold. “What will you do now, Raine?” She stilled and stared up at him. “Shoot me?”

  Raine clenched his jaw and jerked her hard against him. “Don’t tempt me.”

  Seconds ticked by as she stared fiercely at him, unwilling to relent. Through the thin layers of clothing separating their tense bodies, Raine could feel her heat. He wanted simultaneously to kiss her and shake some sense into her, the urge to do one or the other almost overwhelming. He had spent too many endless hours denying his desire for her, denying his needs, his feelings. Years of banished emotion threatened to crash in on him, showering Kate with its fallout.

  She moved first, slamming her right fist into his gut. Raine grunted in surprise at the force behind her blow. He didn’t have time to consider how the hell she could pack such a powerful wallop. He manacled her wrist while deftly deflecting her knee. Kate twisted, lost her balance and pulled him down with her. Raine shifted, holding her close and allowing his shoulder to take the brunt of impact when they hit the grass.

  “Let me go, you bastard!”

  “Stop squirming!” Raine pinned her beneath him, holding her hands above her head and trapping her legs with his own. She fought to throw him off, her body grinding into his. “Don’t move,” he growled. Desire warred with his common sense. Need bordered on physical pain, gnawing at his crumbling resolve.

  She glared at him, the same battle between desire and anger taking place in her own dark eyes. The sound of her short, shallow breaths played havoc with Raine’s weakening control. This was wrong, a mistake. He knew it. But he couldn’t keep himself from wanting her, needing her. His gaze locked on her mouth. Her tongue darted out and moistened her lips. His control vaporized.

  He took her mouth with his own, forcing her to accept him. Plying her soft lips with his firmer ones. A fierce longing shuddered through Raine, followed by a tormented groan that echoed inside her mouth.

  Still fighting, Kate bit his lower lip. Raine swore, but refused to retreat. The tang of his blood mixed with her warm, sweet taste. She writhed beneath him and he kissed her harder, sucked at her tongue. Kate stopped struggling then, whether with desire or defeat, he couldn’t be sure. Despite the risk that she might scratch his eyes out, Raine released his brutal hold on her hands to thread his fingers into her silky hair. Her hands went immediately to his chest, but she didn’t push him away. Instead, her fingers fisted in the fabric of his T-shirt and pulled him nearer. Relief washed through him, followed by a rush of desire heightened by her acceptance.

  Raine rested his weight on his forearms to keep from crushing her soft body into the ground. He cradled her head and deepened the kiss, invading her mouth with his tongue, stroking hers, teasing sensitive places. She responded wildly and his body contracted with want. The fact that they were lying outside in broad daylight no longer mattered. His need to have Kate consumed all else.

  Kate tugged his shirt from his jeans and slipped her hands beneath it. He groaned when her delicate fingers traced the contours of his bare chest. He had wanted to be like this with her for so damn long. Heat sizzled wherever she touched. Raine ground his hips into hers, allowing her to feel just how much he wanted her. He drew his mouth from hers and kissed the tip of her nose, her closed lids, the shell of ear, and then lower. She lay panting, her passion-clouded eyes now following his every move, her chest heaving as harshly as his own.

  Kate smoothed her palms over his heated flesh, down his chest to his abdomen, then around to his back. Her every touch left a trail of fire. She squeezed his buttocks and he almost lost it. He had to close his eyes and concentrate with all his might to slow his body’s plunge toward release. He needed to be inside her, now. Her hands moved higher, kneading, massaging, urging him against her arching hips.

  Raine knew instinctively the moment her fingers curled around the butt of the Beretta. He didn’t move, didn’t even breathe for one long moment. He lifted his mouth from the naked flesh he was
plundering at the base of her throat, his gaze meeting hers. A beat of uncertainty passed. In that split second, something distinctly adversarial flashed in her dark eyes, then it was gone. Kate extended her arm above her head and placed the Beretta on the ground in plain sight.

  A look of primal intent in her eyes, she raised her mouth to his. She sucked his injured lip, moaning softly at the taste of him. Renewed desire roared through his veins, bringing the need inside him to a boiling point and hardening already tight muscles. Again and again her lips teased his until Raine took her mouth hard, thrusting his tongue inside. Her fingers labored with the snap and fly of his jeans.

  She reached inside, touched him, then circled his aching flesh with her soft fingers. Raine groaned harshly, suppressing the urge to explode in her gentle caress. Crazy with want now, he wrenched his mouth from hers, ripped open the shirt she wore and covered one straining breast. Her essence filled his mouth as he sucked first one breast, and then the other. Kate screamed her pleasure. He wanted to taste her, to touch her all over, to take her. Now, right now.

  His heart pounded with impatience as she struggled to shove his jeans and briefs down his hips. She whimpered her own frustration. He kneed her thighs farther apart as he glided one hand over her feminine shape. He touched her, surprised when he didn’t find panties. Kate gasped as he tangled his fingers in her nest of soft curls, slid one finger along her feminine channel, then dipped inside. She was so hot. Kate moaned with pleasure, momentarily distracted from her struggle with his jeans. Raine buried that one finger deep inside her, pressing the heel of his hand hard against her swollen nub. She arched her hips, her hands suddenly frantic to push away his restraining clothes.

  Raine grunted a primal sound when his shaft leaped free. There was no time for civilized foreplay, no patience for decorum. He entered her in one savage thrust. Tight and hot, she gripped him. Kate cried out his name and he soothed her mouth with his own, murmuring unintelligible sounds between kisses.