Racing Against the Clock

by Lori Wilde

  “We’d have to find a hospital. I could speak to a staff physician, have them order the tests.”

  She shook her head. “No. No more hospitals.”

  He started to say something but held his tongue.

  “If it makes you feel any better, Marcus has a fully equipped lab. When we get to Taos, I’ll let you do the blood work yourself,” she said.

  “You’re forgetting, it has been a long time since I was in medical school.”

  Tyler admitting a weakness? She smiled. “I’ll do it then, or Marcus will.” If Marcus was there. Her smile disappeared.

  They finished their breakfast and walked across the highway to the motel.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Tyler said. “I booked just one room for us because we won’t be here long. I’ll only need a few hours of sleep.”

  “One room?” Her voice squeaked, surprising her.

  “But it has two beds,” he added quickly.

  Sleeping in the same room with Tyler? Her heart beat faster. Alone in a bedroom with the one man in the world who had the power to shake her resolve and melt her knees?

  “And I used an alias, just in case Daycon’s goons come looking for us, but I’m afraid I wasn’t terribly original. Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

  Unlocking the door, he ushered her over the threshold and into a sparse but clean bungalow. Tyler kicked off his shoes and dropped to the twin bed closest to the door. An unwieldy silence filled the tiny room.

  “If it’s okay,” Hannah said. “I’d like to take a shower.”

  “Of course it’s all right. You don’t have to ask my permission. I’ll get the suitcase from the car. I packed Yvette’s clothes for you. I hope you don’t mind.” He was looking everywhere but at her.

  “If you hadn’t, I’d be naked,” she said, then immediately regretted her word choice.

  Fire heated her cheeks and she fled for the bathroom. Escaping.

  Closing the door behind her, she sagged against it and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes wrinkled. She looked road weary and worse for the wear. How was it possible that Tyler found her attractive when she resembled something the cat had dragged in and chewed on for a while? Shaking her head, Hannah peeled off her sweater and wriggled out of her blue jeans.

  The hot water massaged her tired body and by the time she had finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself, she was feeling a lot better. Tiptoeing, she inched into the other room, clutching her towel closed with her fingers. Tyler had drawn the heavy curtains, and only the cracks around the windows and door offered much light. He was stretched out in bed, sleeping.

  At least Hannah hoped he was asleep.

  She located the suitcase situated on a straight-back chair beside the thirteen-inch television set resting on a scarred bureau. She rummaged through it in search of undergarments, her damp hair splattering water droplets across the worn carpet.

  At the sound of the bathroom door creaking closed, Tyler opened his eyes and started to call out to her, but the sight of Hannah wrapped in nothing but a skimpy white bath towel, tiptoeing around the bedroom, stilled his tongue.

  She was the most exquisite thing he had ever seen. Bar none.

  Her movements were graceful as a dancer’s. With her ivory skin and mass of blond hair shining in the darkness she could have been a moon goddess. Her body was slim but well-rounded in all the right places. Even from this distance he could smell the fresh, clean scent of her soap.

  His mouth watered and his body hardened.

  God, how he wanted her. More than he had any right to want her. Tyler was faced with the most gorgeous, sexy woman conceivable and he could not have her.

  She was vulnerable. He had promised to help her and she trusted him to do just that. He could not betray that trust by acting like some sex-crazed caveman.

  He thought of all the women he should have wanted. Of all the women who wanted him. Society women like Margie Price, who would make a perfect doctor’s wife. But he had not been interested in Margie or any of those other women. Unable to stop himself, Tyler watched as Hannah dropped the towel and shimmied into her panties, unknowingly exposing her naked backside to him. He knew it was wrong to watch but he was only human.

  Too human, it seemed.

  Those lush, lovely hips. That firm bottom. Those shapely thighs.

  He almost groaned aloud at the pressure building inside his groin. He could still taste her tongue on his as the sharp memory of their hot kisses aboard the Galveston ferry flashed through his mind again.

  She pulled one of his T-shirts over her head. Having her covered should have eased his suffering. It did not. Because he knew what forbidden treasures lurked beneath that thin cotton shirt.

  When she slipped into the other bed, the springs groaned loudly. Tyler closed his eyes against the erotic image those creaking springs produced and forced himself to breath slowly and deeply.

  She rolled onto her side.

  Squeak.

  A few minutes later she flopped onto her stomach.

  Squeak. Squeak.

  The tightness in Tyler’s groin grew into an almost unbearable throbbing.

  Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

  Hannah sighed.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  “Did I wake you?”

  Not wanting her to know he had been observing her in the buff, he lied. “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Can’t sleep?”

  “No. It’s this bed. Apparently, the coils in the box springs are busted and the mattress sags in the middle. I’m having trouble getting comfortable.”

  “I’ll switch beds with you.”

  “Oh, no. At least I got a nap in the car. You need your rest. We’ve got a long day of driving ahead of us.”

  “You could share this bed with me,” he said, instantly wondering why he had made such a rash offer. The idea of Hannah curled up beside him on the narrow twin bed was pure torture. If she spooned that fine fanny against him he could not be held responsible for his actions.

  “Would you mind?” Her voice was wavery, indecisive.

  He scooted over until his back touched the wall and he raised the covers for her. Like a little girl crawling into her parents’ bed during a thunderstorm, Hannah climbed in beside him.

  No matter how badly he might want to make love to her, Tyler knew he could not. She trusted him. He had never taken unfair advantage of a woman in his entire life and he wasn’t about to start now.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Her damp hair tickled his face. Her body heat warmed him. It had been a very long time since he had lain beside a woman. Especially a woman as beautiful and sexy as Hannah. A very long time indeed. He had forgotten how wonderful it felt.

  The sweet scent of her filled his nostrils. Her bottom brushed against his belly, setting his torso ablaze. To keep from touching her, he curled his hands into fists.

  Don’t do it, Fresno.

  He was mahogany-hard and very close to losing the last shred of his control.

  For a woman who disliked being touched she was enjoying this way too much. How she had come to spend so many years denying herself the tactile pleasures of another person’s body, Hannah did not know.

  But this wasn’t just any body. This was Tyler.

  She realized that by climbing into bed with him she was playing with fire, but she had such a desperate need to be close to someone. A need that had lain dormant for thirty-two years.

  She was tired of being distant, repressed and aloof. Tired of living her life according to outdated expectations. Her parents were gone and she was free to make her own way. She ached to unleash her passion, longed to lose herself in the reckless abandon of physical desires. Her body blistered with yearning. She had spent way too much time locked up in a lab, smelling of chemicals and living like an old maid.

  Besides, this might be her last chance.

  If she did not find Marcus
, her chances of surviving the combined exposure to Virusall and radiation and her body’s subsequent radical-immune response to the drug were nil. And even if she were to find Marcus there were no guarantees they would be able to reverse the deadly effects.

  Hannah rolled over onto her back and when her hip brushed against Tyler’s, she realized with a start that he was completely naked. His breath tickled her cheek. Under the sheets her bare feet grazed his.

  He inhaled sharply.

  Palms sweaty, heart roaring, blood pumping, she held her breath and waited.

  “Tyler,” she whispered, too excited and nervous to look at him. Instead, hands folded across her lap, she stared up at the ceiling. “Are you awake?”

  He did not answer.

  Hannah knew he was awake. He was breathing too fast to be asleep.

  “Tyler?” She laid a hand on his chest and he jerked.

  “What is it, Hannah?” he asked in a heavy voice.

  How did a girl go about seducing the man of her dreams? She had no clue. On the job, when she had wanted something she was accustomed to coming right out and asking for it, but somehow that approach seemed unromantic. She did not want to make any mistakes.

  And she was terrified of disappointing him, but her body’s urges were too strong to be denied. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

  If she made the first move would he consider her too bold? She knew he was attracted to her. His kisses left no doubt to the power of the chemistry undulating between them. The way his lips, his touch, seemed to revitalize her was startling. It had to mean something.

  But he didn’t have to be in love with her. She wasn’t asking for that. Truth be told it would be much simpler if he wasn’t in love with her. She would hate to die and break his heart the way his wife had.

  “I was wondering…”

  “Yes?”

  “If you…er…if we… Oh, I can’t say it.” Embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands.

  “You can say anything to me, Hannah, and I won’t judge you harshly. I want you to know that.”

  His words melted her.

  “I want to make love to you,” she whispered.

  “Are you sure that’s what you really want?” he asked huskily. “Are you strong enough?”

  “Touching you makes me stronger. Every time you touch me, I come alive. But, Tyler, do you really want me?” Every doubt she’d ever had about her abilities to please a man knotted inside her chest, making it hard to breath. Her muscles bunched from the tension of wanting and waiting and worrying that she wasn’t woman enough for him.

  “Silly woman, do you even have to ask?”

  And then he was pulling her into his arms, holding her close, his mouth covering hers with fierce kisses.

  Hannah moaned softly and pressed her feverish body against him. His skin was as hot as hers.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, kissing her throat. “I can hardly believe this is happening.”

  His long fingers skimmed over her skin, sending tremors throughout her body. Her muscles dissolved into mush as she gave herself over to him heart and soul.

  Tyler gently lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor, then cupped a breast in each hand. “Perfect,” he pronounced, before lowering his head and taking first one beaded nipple into his mouth and then the other.

  Hannah hissed in her breath at the warm moisture of his tongue. It felt so good.

  “Relax, sweetheart,” he soothed, rubbing one hand across her belly, stoking the fire already glowing there.

  Easy for him to say. She was wound tighter than a top and ready to explode. She laced her fingers through his dark hair and softly called his name.

  “Yes?” Propping himself up on one elbow, he looked down at her.

  “Nothing. I just wanted to say your name.”

  In the faint light oozing around the curtains, she saw him smile. She absorbed the beauty of that smile, committed it to memory before shifting her gaze from his face to his body. She had to seize this moment and pour everything she had into it, because she knew this miniscule window of time was all she possessed. Relaxing a little, she allowed herself to enjoy him.

  His broad shoulders progressed into a smooth chest. His dark nipples had turned to pellets as tight as her own. His ribs, waist and stomach were compact planes of lean muscle and sinew. The bed sheets hid him from his hips downward and Hannah was dying to see what treasures lay beyond.

  She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her life, and that included avenging her parents’ deaths by developing Virusall.

  “I want to see all of you,” she said, and pulled back the covers.

  Her hands trembled with desire and her eyes widened. The wall of his flat abdomen gave way to slim hips. The part of him that was distinctly male stood at erect attention amidst a triangle of dark hair flanked by light-colored skin. His thighs looked firm and powerful. Hannah’s throat constricted and she wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew.

  While she was perusing him, he was studying her just as intently. His gaze traveled from her breasts to the rounded curve of her hip and on down into the blond apex that housed her parts most feminine. If possible, the flag of his arousal seemed to grow taller.

  “Oh, Tyler.”

  He embraced her again and they kissed, their gazes locked the entire time. Their moans mingled and vibrated inside their kiss, over the sizzling shock of their bodies touching intimately for the first time.

  A hundred fires leapt to life in a thousand different places throughout her tingling body, whooshing together, fusing into one magnificent all-consuming inferno. Tyler’s hands were gentle and firm, massaging her tender flesh in a way that promised more sinful indulgence to come.

  Every cell inside her hummed and vibrated, bustling with life. When she was lying in his arms it was hard to believe she could be dying. She felt as invincible as superwoman.

  Caught between his pleasing hands and his teasing lips, Hannah had never felt so drunk with need and want. She clung to him, running her hands down his knotted back muscles, squeezing his buttocks as his shaft pulsed against her thigh.

  “Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?” he whispered.

  “Oh, Tyler, it’s so much more than that. You’re everything I ever hoped for and never expected to get.”

  “Hannah.” His voice was choked with emotion.

  Birth control, she thought for the first time since starting this. “I don’t suppose you have a condom?” she ventured.

  Tyler groaned. “No.”

  Why was she worried about birth control when she didn’t know if she would live from one day to the next? Why? Because she could not risk bringing a child into the craziness of her life when her body was unpredictable, her future so uncertain.

  Hannah swallowed. “I’m sorry, I never even thought.”

  “Shhh,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. I got you stirred up. Gave you promises I couldn’t keep.” She was almost crying.

  He stroked her hair, kissed her forehead. “Shh.”

  “I’ll go get in the other bed.”

  “You’ll stay and I’ll put on a pair of pants.”

  “It’s not fair,” she whimpered. “I wanted you so.”

  “Not any more than I wanted you, sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’ll buy some condoms at our next stop. We can do this later.”

  “But I want you now.”

  “We’ve waited this long to find each other, a few more hours is nothing.”

  “You say the sweetest things.” She traced a finger along his cheek and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “That’s because I mean what I say.”

  Tears stung her eyes. In her wildest imagination she had never dreamed a man like this could exist, much less care for her.

  At that moment there was a loud banging on the door. Hannah clutched the sheet over her nakedness and stared at Tyler.

&nbs
p; “Who’s that?” she whispered.

  The knocking came again, urgent, insistent.

  “Who is it?” Tyler called, and climbed over Hannah. He picked his jeans off the floor and slid into them.

  “Mr. Smith?” came a worried masculine voice from the other side of the door.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you by any chance a doctor?”

  “Just a minute.” Tyler pulled his shirt over his head and moved to open the door.

  Early-morning sunlight poured in. Hannah craned her neck to peer at a middle-aged, apologetic-looking man standing in the doorway wearing blue jeans, a flannel shirt and a shapeless beige work coat. He worried a battered cap with his stained, gnarled fingers. “Sorry to wake you folks.”

  “That’s all right,” Tyler said. “What can I do for you?”

  “Me and my wife, we saw the M.D. plates on your car and the medical bag in your back seat. Are you a doctor?”

  “Yes,” Tyler said, raking a hand through his unruly hair. “I’m a doctor.”

  “Thank the Lord.” The man placed his palms together and glanced heavenward. “The nearest hospital is in Abilene thirty miles away and Angie, my four-year-old, is so sick I don’t think she can make it that far. Would you come have a look at her, please?” The man’s homey face wrinkled with concern.

  “Sure, sure. No problem,” Tyler replied. “What’s wrong with your daughter?”

  “She’s got a high fever. A hundred and five. And a real bad headache. She’s been throwing up….” The man consulted his watch. “For over an hour now.”

  “I will be right with you. Let me get dressed.”

  The man nodded and Tyler shut the door behind him.

  Hannah looked at him, her eyes wide. “It sounds serious.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” he said.

  “You’re not leaving me behind.”

  “Yes. Get some rest.”

  “No way,” Hannah said and sprang from the bed. “I’m coming with you.”

  Chapter 9

  “No.”

  Fear chilled his blood. If Hannah came with him, Tyler had no doubt she’d try to cure the little girl with her touch. Healing his cut had compromised her health. A niggling suspicion told him the more she used her uncanny healing powers, the weaker she would become as her immune system warred with the irradiated chemicals inside her body.