Rules in Blackmail

by Nichole Severn

  “A little late for that, isn’t it?” A small puff of laughter burst from her lips, as she finally looked up at him. Fisting the collar of his jacket in her hands, she shoved against him and pulled him back in. “Is that a promise you think you can keep?”

  “I keep all my promises. You know that.” He traced his fingertips across her jaw. Jane’s breathing pattern changed. Because of him. Because of his touch. And his body hummed with the possibility of experimenting with her reactions for the rest of their lives. “But if I have to break that promise to keep you safe, Jane, I will. Whether there’s a possibility of me going to prison or not.”

  “All right. Then I’ll make a promise, too.” The darkness in her beauty vanished, replaced with warmth, hope and so much more. The burden she’d hung on to for the last few months had been lifted, and Sullivan loved the effect. “Whatever happens after we walk out those hospital doors, I promise never to blackmail you into helping me again.”

  Whatever happened? She’d meant it as a joke, but confusion closed in on him, and Sullivan backed off a step. “If by ‘whatever happens,’ you mean you walking out those doors with me and signing the paperwork for your permanent transfer to Anchorage.”

  “Sullivan...” Jane let her hands fall to her sides, and everything inside him went cold. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? Forget prison. Loving me is a death sentence. And I’m not going to be the one responsible for taking your life. I think I’ve screwed it up enough.”

  She couldn’t be serious. Not after everything they’d been through. Sliding his hands through his hair, Sullivan turned away to hide the obvious fire burning through his veins. Because he couldn’t stand the thought of her walking away from this. From him. “So saying you loved me when Elliot was trying to disarm that bomb strapped to your chest was some attempt to... What?” He took a deep breath, trying to clear her scent from his system, but she was all around him. She was in his veins. “Put my mind at ease in case you died?”

  “No—” she swiped her tongue across her bottom lip, and his heart rate kicked up a notch “—of course not. I—”

  “What you do with your life is up to you, Jane. I would never force you into anything you’re not comfortable with. If you don’t want to stay here in Anchorage, fine. That’s your choice.” He stalked toward her, craving the feel of her against him, but he caged the desire racking his nervous system. He pushed every ounce of raw passion he held for the woman who’d blackmailed him into his voice. “But just because you’re holding on to your guilt with everything you have does not give you the right to make the decision of what I do with my life or who gets to stay in it.”

  Sullivan rolled his fingers into fists when all he wanted to do was grab her by the arms and commit every inch of her body to memory all over again. His heart worked to beat out of his chest. He took a deep breath. Two. The fire simmered to a slow burn. There, but manageable. He relaxed his hands, trailing the pad of his thumb across her full bottom lip, the one she always licked when she was nervous. “When I said everything has changed since that night under the aurora borealis, it’s not that I changed my mind. It’s that I’m scared as hell to love you, Jane, but here I am, in love with you anyway.”

  Sliding one hand into his jacket pocket, he extracted the documents she’d had made under a different name and tossed them onto the bed without taking his eyes off her. “Now all you have to do is stay.”

  * * *

  STAY?

  Her lips parted as she caught sight of the documents, and her mouth went dry. The pulse at the base of her neck quickened. She closed her eyes for a split second. She’d left them in the Blackhawk Security SUV she’d stolen from Anthony at the hospital. Sullivan’s weapons expert must’ve recovered them and handed them over to his boss after Marrok had taken her.

  The hair on the back of her neck stood at attention as the memories flashed across her mind. The bomb’s beeping as Marrok had set the countdown into motion played over and over in her head. Pressing her fingers into her eye sockets, she attempted to relieve the pressure building behind her eyes. But the look of horror on Sullivan’s face as he realized what his brother had done had ingrained itself into her mind. Forever. “I need...”

  What did she need?

  “Jane,” he said.

  His voice slid through her, drowning out the nightmare that’d brought them together, and she couldn’t help but step into his arms. His body heat worked down through her clothing, deep into her bones, as she set her ear against his heart. She interlaced her fingers at the small of his back, terrified to let go. “I need...you.” Her own words echoed throughout her mind as she recalled her reasons for seeking Sullivan out in the first place. “I need you.”

  “You have me. But I can’t live the rest of my life wondering what would’ve happened if I let you walk away now. I love you. I want you to stay.” He set his cheek against the crown of her head, his clean, masculine scent surrounding her, working down into her pores. “So what is it going to be, Jane?”

  The tension hardening the muscles along her spine dissipated as he wrapped his thick arms around her, and she sank further into him. Was this how it would always be between them? This give and take, this passion to keep each other from getting hurt?

  From the second she’d broken into Sullivan Bishop’s office, she swore not to let her heart rule her decision making, but the rules of blackmail had gone out the window one by one over the past days. He’d saved her life, protected her from a group of mercenaries for crying out loud and put his future at risk. All for her. And in her last perceived moments on this earth, she’d trusted her gut to tell him exactly what her head refused to acknowledge. She loved him.

  She wasn’t sure when it’d happened, maybe only now, but she’d decided she wanted him more than she was afraid of losing him.

  His heart pounded hard against her ear, strong and reliant. He was a SEAL. And he could take care of himself. No matter the threat, Sullivan Bishop protected those he cared about and always seemed to stay alive in the process. Jane tightened her hold on him. And that would have to be enough. “I love you, too.”

  He pushed her back a few inches, trying to fight the smile curling at the edge of his mouth. Sullivan gripped her around the waist. His eyes brightened as the smile overwhelmed his expression, and Jane’s heart stuttered. “Really?”

  “Yes. And I’m staying. With you.” She nodded. Her gut instincts said this was the right choice. This was where she wanted to be. “Unless you need someone to drag you to safety through the middle of the Alaskan wilderness again, then you’re on your own.”

  Sullivan framed her jawline between his strong hands and crushed his mouth to hers. She tried to breathe around the rush of desire flooding through her. He’d worked his way under her skin, branded himself on her soul, and her body’s response to him slipped further and further out of her control. He caressed her lower back and lifted her off her feet, pressing her against him as though he intended to make them one. And she might’ve had a few ideas herself on how to make that happen. Injuries be damned. This was where she wanted to be.

  He swept his tongue inside her mouth, laying claim. He kissed her with a wild, desperate passion and Jane took everything he gave. Arms wrapped around his neck, she clung to him as months of fear and paranoia drained from her muscles.

  She had her life back. Because the one man she’d needed the most had kept his promise. Because of Sullivan.

  “Is it necessary to hold that woman so tight?” a familiar voice asked.

  They turned toward Elliot in the door frame, cheeks pressed together, but Sullivan kept her in his arms. A growl vibrated from deep in Sullivan’s chest as he eased her back to her feet. “This better be important.”

  Pressed against him, Jane enjoyed the funny things that growl did to her insides but wiped at her mouth and pulled her T-shirt down over her jeans’ waistband. Heat worked up he
r neck and into her face the longer the private investigator smiled at them.

  “The police want your statements about what went down at the cabin.” Elliot hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “Should I tell them to give you another thirty minutes?”

  Another growl echoed throughout the room.

  “Okay, okay. Forty-five minutes.” Blackhawk Security’s private investigator spun on his heel and wrenched open the door. How she hadn’t heard him come in in the first place, Jane would never know.

  “You know, Jane, I was actually worried you would be too late in telling him how you felt, and we were all going to die.” Elliot turned back before hitting the hallway, and that crooked smile of his warned Jane she wasn’t about to like what came out of his mouth next. “I’m glad everything worked out for the best.”

  “Come again?” Narrowing his eyes, Sullivan stepped toward the private investigator with fire burning hot in his gaze, but Jane held him back.

  “Wait a second. Do you mean to tell me you knew which wire to cut prior to Sullivan cutting me out of the vest? And the only reason you waited was because I hadn’t told him how I felt yet?” Heat surged through her. Forget about Sullivan beating Elliot to a pulp. She’d kill him herself. Jane crossed the room. Grabbing the private investigator by the collar, she hauled him close. “Are you insane? We almost died!”

  “I knew you’d do the right thing when it came down to the wire. No pun intended.” That crooked, cocky smile deepened the laugh lines around Elliot’s mouth, but, as his attention shifted over Jane’s shoulder—to Sullivan—the smile disappeared.

  She didn’t have to turn around to know her SEAL was considering ways to use his tightly honed skills in torture on his private investigator. Tension filled the hospital room, and she didn’t see any way out for Elliot other than resigning from his job and going into hiding for the rest of his life. Jane unclenched her hold on his collar and moved out of the way. “You better start running now.”

  Elliot’s coffee-colored eyes widened as Sullivan closed in.

  “Now, boss, we’re friends, right? I owe you my life. I was using the bomb as an incentive.” Elliot backed toward the door, hands held up in defense, but Jane didn’t hold her SEAL back this time. “Keep in mind I gave you plenty of time to cut her out of the vest in case she didn’t want to express how she felt.”

  “The next time I see you better be on a plane to Iraq, Dunham.” Sullivan stalked after him, danger and rage rising in each step.

  Elliot ran out the door as fast as he could. No looking back. Probably a good decision on his part. His voice slid through the crack in the door as he bolted down the hallway. “You should be thanking me!”

  The tightness remained across Sullivan’s back, but Jane couldn’t help but thread her arms around his waist.

  “Give him a head start before you kill him.” A laugh bubbled from her lips as Jane sank into the comfort of Sullivan’s strong, muscled back. He spun in her grasp, pinning her with those sea-blue eyes she couldn’t get enough of.

  “There’s still one thing we need to get clear on before we walk out those doors together.” His expression sobered as he stared down at her, and Jane tightened her grip on him. “And after what happened with Menas and my brother, I think I have the right to know.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for another interrogation? I seem to recall me winning the last one.” Caution narrowed her gaze. She didn’t have any more secrets. At least, none that would get them killed. But she trusted him with her life. If he wanted to interrogate her before jumping into the most dangerous assignment of his career—a relationship with her—all he had to do was ask. Echoes from the PA system filtered into the room, but Jane had attention for only the wide expanse of muscle under her fingertips. “I’ll tell you anything.”

  “That’s a good start. Because I have ways of making you talk.” His voice was deep and dark, and it sent an instinct of warning down her spine. But then Sullivan raised his hand a split second before he dropped a piece of ice down her T-shirt.

  Freezing water dripped down her spine. Jane screamed, trying to dislodge the ice cube, but it’d caught in her sports bra. “Where the heck did you get ice?”

  “I paid Elliot five dollars to come in and tell you that whole thing about the bomb as a distraction so I could lift a piece of ice from your side table.” A gut-wrenching smile spread across Sullivan’s features as he wrapped her in his arms.

  “So what he said wasn’t true?” she asked.

  “No.” Sullivan shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I would’ve already broken my promise to the district attorney had any of that been true.”

  The ice fell from her shirt, and she slapped at his shoulder. “Oh, this isn’t over. When we get back to the cabin, you’re going to need me to save you from the brink of death in front of the fire again.”

  “Mmm. I like that idea.” He purred into her ear, the tip of his nose tracing the most sensitive part of her neck. “But, really, tell me how you broke into Blackhawk Security. I’ve had my network security team run diagnostics on my entire security system—three times—and they haven’t come back with a single loophole. Either you paid someone to let you in, which your financials can’t prove, or you’re more than what you seem, Counselor.”

  “All right, Frogman, you want to know?” He’d fought like hell for her, nearly died for her—more times than she could count—and lost a brother all over again in the process. At this point, she’d give him anything he asked for. And not just the truth. Everything she had. Everything she was. And she would fight like hell for him for the rest of their lives.

  “More than anything,” he said.

  “It’s really eating you up inside, isn’t it? Okay then.” She crooked her finger at him, putting her mouth right next to Sullivan’s ear as he leaned in. His scent washed over her, and she took a deep breath. He wanted answers, but Jane wanted more. She wanted forever. With him. A smile spread her lips thin, and she dropped the ice cube down the back of his shirt. “Did you think it was going to be that easy?”

  Sullivan jerked away, his laugh loud enough to echo down the hall. Locking that enthralling blue gaze on her, he stalked toward her, all SEAL, all predator. All hers. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Body of Evidence by Debra Webb.

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  Body of Evidence

  by Debra Webb

  Chapter One

 
The Edge Emergency Department, Chicago

  Thursday, June 28, 9:30 p.m.

  Dr. Marissa Frasier ruffled the hair of her six-year-old patient, Jeremiah Owens. “You were very brave, Jeremiah.”

  The little boy had arrived at the ER two hours ago with a greenstick fracture to the radius about three inches above his left wrist. After an examination and then X-rays to confirm, he had stoically watched as Dr. Pete Myers, the ortho on call, applied the cast for keeping the arm stable. Jeremiah had chosen royal blue for his cast. Though there had been no serious shift in the bones as a result of the fracture, they wanted it to stay that way, and children couldn’t always be counted on to follow instructions or to keep on a splint. A cast was typically the better route to go with younger patients.

  The child’s lips had quivered and his eyes had grown bright during the procedure, but Mom was the only one who cried. The poor woman had apologized profusely. Her sweet son had repeatedly told her that he was okay and that it didn’t really hurt. Being a parent was difficult at times, and this had been one of those times.

  Dr. Myers had quickly moved on to an elderly patient who’d arrived with a fracture to the upper quarter of the femur. Never a good thing, but particularly problematic in older patients. Apparently tonight’s theme was broken bones. They’d had three others this evening. Marissa was reasonably confident that was a record for a Thursday night.

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Mrs. Owens said, her tears all but dry now. “He was a very brave boy.” She kissed the top of her child’s head.

  Marissa smiled. “Perhaps when Nurse Bowman has gone over the dismissal instructions, a reward is in order for your outstanding bravery, Jeremiah.”

  “I think that’s a very good idea.” His mother patted him gently on the back. “A reward would be very nice, don’t you think, Jeremiah?”