by Nora Roberts
She saw the hate and fury darken his face. Let him hate me, she thought. She’d be damned if he would lay hands on those children again. “I’m aware that he’s never completed a program.”
“Alcoholism is a disease, Ms. Spinelli. Mr. Higgins is now seeking treatment for his illness. You would agree that Mrs. Higgins has been a victim of her husband’s illness?”
“I would agree that she has suffered both physically and emotionally at his hands.”
“And can you possibly believe that she should suffer further, lose her children and they her? Can you possibly believe that the court should take these three little boys away from their mother?”
The choice, Anna thought, was hers. The man who beat her and terrorized their children, or the health and safety of those children. “I believe she will suffer further, until she makes the decision to change her circumstances. And it’s my professional opinion that Mrs. Higgins is incapable of caring for herself, much less her children, at this time.”
“Both Mr. and Mrs. Higgins now have steady employment,” the lawyer continued. “Mrs. Higgins has stated, under oath, that she and her husband are reconciled and continuing to work on their marital difficulties. Separating the family will, as she stated, only cause emotional pain for all involved.”
“I know she believes that.” Her steady look at Mrs. Higgins was compassionate, but her voice was firm. “I believe that there are three children whose welfare and safety are at stake. I’m aware of the medical reports, the psychiatric reports, the police reports. In the past fifteen months, these three children have been treated in the emergency room a combined total of eleven times.”
She looked at the lawyer now, wondering how he could stand in a court of law and fight for what was surely the destruction of three young boys. “I’m aware that a four-year-old boy’s arm was snapped like a twig. I strongly recommend that these children remain in licensed and supervised foster care to ensure their physical and emotional safety.”
“No charges have been filed against Mr. Higgins.”
“No, no charges have been filed.” Anna shifted her gaze to the mother, let it rest on that tired face. “That’s just another crime,” she murmured.
When she was finished, Anna passed by the Higginses without a glance. But behind the rail, little Curtis reached out for her hand. “Do you have a lollipop?” he whispered, making her smile.
She made a habit of carrying them for him. He had a weakness for cherry Tootsie Roll Pops. “Maybe I do. Let’s see.”
She was reaching into her purse when the explosion came from behind her. “Get your hands off what’s mine, you bitch.”
As she started to turn, Higgins hit her full force, knocking her sprawling and sending Curtis to the floor with her in a heap of screams and wails. Her head rang like church bells and stars dazzled her eyes. She could hear screams and curses as she managed to push herself up to her hands and knees.
Her cheek ached fiercely where it had connected with the seat of a wooden chair. Her palms sang from skidding on the tile floor. And damn it, the new hose she had bought to replace the ones she’d run were torn at the knees.
“Hold still,” Marilou ordered. She was crouched in Anna’s office, grimly doctoring the scrapes.
“I’m all right.” Indeed, the injuries were minor. “It was worth it. That little demonstration in open court ensures that he won’t get near those kids for quite a while.”
“You worry me, Anna.” Marilou looked up with those dark, gleaming eyes. “I’d almost think you enjoyed being tackled by that two-hundred-pound putz.”
“I enjoyed the results. Ouch, Marilou.” She blew out a breath as her supervisor rose to examine the bruise on Anna’s cheek. “I enjoyed filing charges for assault, and most of all I enjoyed seeing those kids go home with their foster family.”
“A good day’s work?” With a shake of her head, Marilou stepped back. “It worries me, too, that you let yourself get too close.”
“You can’t help from a distance. So much of what we do is just paperwork, Marilou. Forms and procedures. But every now and again you get to do something—even if it’s only getting tackled by a two-hundred-pound putz. And it’s worth it.”
“If you care too much, you end up with more than a couple of bruises and a skinned knee.”
“If you don’t care enough, you should find another line of work.”
Marilou blew out a breath. It was difficult to argue when she felt exactly the same way. “Go home, Anna.”
“I’ve got another hour on the clock.”
“Go home. Consider it combat pay.”
“Since you put it that way. I could use the hour. I don’t have anything in the house to eat. If you hear any more on—” She broke off and looked up at the knock on her doorjamb. Her eyes widened. “Cameron.”
“Miz Spinelli, I wonder if you have a minute to—” His smile of greeting transformed into a snarl. The light in his eyes turned hot and sharp as a flaming sword. “What the hell happened to you?” He was in the room like a shot, filling it, nearly barreling over Marilou to get to Anna. “Who the hell hit you?”
“No one, exactly, I was—”
Instead of giving her a chance to finish, he whirled on Marilou. Torn between fascination and amusement, Marilou backed up a step and held her hands up, palms out. “Not me, champ. I only browbeat my staff. Never lay a finger on them.”
“There was a ruckus in court, that’s all.” Struggling to be brisk and professional despite her bare legs and feet, Anna rose. “Marilou, this is Cameron Quinn. Cameron, Marilou Johnston, my supervisor.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, even under the circumstances.” Marilou held out a hand. “I was a student of your father’s a million years ago. I quite simply adored him.”
“Yeah, thanks. Who hit you?” he demanded again of Anna.
“Someone who is even now on the wrong side of a locked cell.” Quickly, Anna worked her bare feet back into her low-heeled pumps. “Marilou, I’m going to take you up on the hour off.” Her only thought now was to get Cam out, away from Marilou’s curious and all-too-observant eyes. “Cameron, if you need to speak with me about Seth, you could give me a ride home.” She slipped on her dove-gray jacket, smoothed it into place. “It’s not far. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”
“Fine. Sure.” When he caught her chin in his hand, a tug-of-war of pleasure and alarm raged inside her. “We’ll talk.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Marilou.”
“Oh, yes.” Marilou smiled easily while Anna hurriedly gathered her briefcase. “We’ll talk, too.”
FIFTEEN
Anna kept her mouth firmly shut until they were out of the building and safely alone in the parking lot. “Cam, for God’s sake.”
“For God’s sake, what?”
“This is where I work.” She stopped at his car, turned to face him. “Where I work, remember? You can’t come storming into my office like an outraged lover.”
He took her chin in hand again, leaned his face close. “I am an outraged lover, and I want the name of the son of a bitch who put his hands on you.”
She wouldn’t allow herself to be thrilled by the violence sparking around him. It would be, she reminded herself as her stomach gave a delicious little hop, completely unprofessional.
“The person in question is being dealt with by the proper authorities. And you’re not allowed to be a lover, outraged or otherwise, during business hours.”
“Yeah? Try and stop me,” he challenged and leading with his temper, crushed his mouth to hers.
She wiggled for a moment. Anyone could peek out an office window and see. The kiss was too hot, too heady for a daylight embrace in an office parking lot.
The kiss was also too hot, too heady to resist. She gave in to it, to him, to herself, and wrapped her arms around him. “Will you cut it out?” she said against his mouth.
“No.”
“Okay, then, let’s take this indoors.”
“
Good idea.” With his mouth still on hers, he reached back to open the car door.
“I can’t get in until you let me go.”
“Good point.” He released her, then surprised her by gently, tenderly brushing his lips over the bruise on her cheek. “Does it hurt?”
Her heart was still flopping. “Maybe a little.” She got inside, deliberately reaching for her seat belt, keeping her moves efficient and casual.
“What happened?” he asked as he slid in beside her.
“Abusive father of three, wife beater, didn’t care for my testimony in family court today. He shoved me. I had my back turned or he’d have gotten a hard knee to the groin, but as it was I was off balance. Did a nosedive—which would have been embarrassing but for the fact that he’s now in lockup and the kids are with their foster family.”
“And the wife?”
“I can’t help her.” Anna let her aching head fall back. “You have to pick your battles.”
He said nothing to that. He’d been thinking the same thing. It was why he’d decided to dump three kids on Ethan and come to see her. He’d made up his mind to tell her about the insurance investigation, the speculations about Seth’s connection to his father, the search that Phillip had instigated for Seth’s mother.
He’d decided to tell her everything, to ask her advice, to get her take. Now he found himself wondering if that was the wisest course—for her, for him, for Seth.
It would wait, he told himself, and rationalized his postponement: she’d had a rough time, needed a little attention.
“So, do you get knocked around much in your line of work?”
“Hmm? No.” She laughed a little as he pulled up in front of her building. “Now and again somebody takes a swing or throws something at you, but mostly it’s just verbal abuse.”
“Fun job.”
“It has its moments.” She took his hand, walked alongside him. “Did you know that television is the tool of the Communist left?”
“I hadn’t heard that.”
“I’m here to tell you.” She used her key to check her mail slot, gathered letters and bills and a fashion magazine. “Sesame Street is just a front.”
“I always suspected that big yellow bird.”
“Nah, he’s just a shill. The frog’s the mastermind.” She put her finger to her lips as they approached her door. They snuck in together like kids hooking school. “I just didn’t want to have the sisters fussing over me.”
“Mind if I do?”
“That depends on your definition of fussing.”
“We’ll start here.” He slipped his arms around her waist, touched his lips to hers.
“I suppose I could tolerate that.” She helped him deepen the kiss. “What are you doing here, Cam?”
“I had a lot on my mind.” His lips brushed over the bruise again, then lower, to her jawline. “You, mostly. I wanted to see you, be with you, talk to you. Make love to you.”
Her lips curved against his. “All at the same time.”
“Why not? I did have this thought about taking you out to dinner . . . but now I’m thinking maybe we could order pizza.”
“Perfect.” She said it with a sigh. “Why don’t you pour us some wine, and I’ll change?”
“There’s this other thing.” He worked his way over to her ear. “Something I’ve been wanting to do. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to get Miz Spinelli out of one of her dedicated-public-servant suits.”
“Have you?”
“Since the first time I saw you.”
She smiled wickedly. “Now’s your chance.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He brought his mouth back to hers, hungrier now, more possessive. This time her sigh caught on a trembling gasp as he jerked her jacket off her shoulders and trapped her arms. “I’m wanting the hell out of you. Day and night.”
Her voice was throaty now, dark with need. “I guess that makes it handy, since I want the hell out of you too.”
“It doesn’t scare you?”
“Nothing about you and me scares me.”
“And what if I said I want you to let me do anything I want to you? Everything?”
Her heart fluttered to her throat, but her eyes stayed steady. “I’d say who’s stopping you?”
With desire dark and dangerous in his eyes, he skimmed his gaze down, then back to her face. “I wonder what Miz Spinelli wears under these prim little blouses.”
“I don’t think a man like you is going to let a few buttons keep him from finding out.”
“You’re right.” He shifted his hands from her jacket to the crisply pressed cotton of her blouse. And ripped. He watched her eyes go wide and shocked. And aroused. “If you want me to stop, I will. I won’t do anything you don’t want.”
He’d torn her blouse. And it had thrilled her. He waited, watching, for her to say stop or go. And it thrilled her even more. She understood she hadn’t been completely truthful when she’d told him nothing about them scared her. She was afraid of what might be happening to her heart.
But here, in physical love, she knew she could match him.
“I want everything. All.”
His blood leaped. Still, he kept his touch light, teasing, running the back of his hand above the slick white material of her demi-cut bra. “Miz Spinelli.” He drawled it while his fingers slipped beneath the polished satin to rub against her stiffened nipple. “How much can you take?”
His light tugs had heat spiraling through her system. Already the air was thick. “I think we’re about to find out.”
Slowly, his eyes on her face, he backed her against the wall. “Let’s start here. Brace yourself,” he murmured, and his hand shot under her skirt and tore aside the lacy swatch she wore beneath. Her breath exploded out, and she nearly laughed. Then he plunged his fingers into her, lancing that hard, rough shock of pleasure through her unprepared system. The orgasm ripped through her, emptying her mind, stealing her breath. When her knees gave way, he simply held her against the wall.
“Take more.” He was desperate to watch her take more, to see the shocked excitement capture her face, to see those gorgeous eyes go wild and blind.
She gripped his shoulders for balance. With her head tipped back he could see the pulse in her throat beat madly and was compelled to taste just there. She moaned against him, moved against him, her breath hitching when he yanked the jacket and what was left of her blouse away.
She was helpless, staggered. The assault on her senses left her limbs shuddering and her heart hammering. She said his name, tried to, but it caught on a gasp as he spun her around. Her damp palms pressed to the wall.
He tore at the button of her skirt. She felt it give way, shivering as the material slid over her hips and pooled at her feet. His hands were on her breasts, molding, sliding from satin to flesh and back again. Then he tore that as well, and she gloried in the sound of the delicate material rending.
His teeth nipped into her shoulder. And his hands—oh, his hands were everywhere, driving her toward madness, then beyond. Rough palms against smooth skin, clever fingers pressing, sliding.
The breath that had torn ragged through her lips began to slow. Pleasure was thick, and midnight dark. She felt herself slipping into some erotic half-world where there was only sensation.
Slick, stunning, and sinful.
The wall was smooth and cool; his hands were not. The contrasts were unbearably arousing.
When he spun her around again, her eyes were dazzled by the sunlight. He was still fully dressed and she was naked. She found it exquisitely erotic, and could say nothing as he slowly lifted her arms above her head, bracketed her wrists with one hand.
Watching her, he combed his hand roughly through her hair to scatter pins. “I want more.” He could barely speak. “Tell me you want more.”
“Yes, I want more.”
He pressed his body to hers, soft cotton, rough denim against damp flesh. And the kiss he took from her left her mind spin
ning.
Then his mouth went to work on her quivering body.
He wanted all the tastes of her, the dark honey of her mouth, the damp silk of her breasts. There was the creamy taste of her belly, the polished satin of her thighs.
Then the heat, the furnace flood of it as he licked his way between them.
Everything. All, was all he could think. Then more.
Her hands gripped his hair, pressing his face closer as she climbed to peak. It was her cry, the half scream, that broke the final link on his control. It had to be now.
He freed himself, then pressed against her. “I need to fill you.” He panted the words out. “I want you to watch me when I do.”
He drove into her where they stood, and their twin groans tangled in the air.
Afterward, he carried her to bed, lay down beside her. She curled up against him like a child, a gesture he found surprisingly sweet. He watched her sleep, thirty minutes, then a hour. He couldn’t stop touching her—a hand through her hair, fingertips over the bruise on her face, a stroke over the curve of her shoulder.
Had he said he had something inside of him for her? He began to worry just what that something might be. He’d never felt compelled to stay with a woman after sex. Had never felt the need to just look at her while she slept, or to touch only for the sake of touching and not to arouse.
He wondered what odd and slippery level they’d reached.
Then she stirred, sighed, and her eyes fluttered open and focused on him. When she smiled, his heart quite simply turned over in his chest.
“Hi. Did I fall asleep?”
“Looked like it to me.” He searched for some glib remark, something light and frivolous, but all he could find to say was her name. “Anna.” And he lowered his mouth to hers. Tenderly, softly, lovingly.
The sleep had cleared from her eyes when he drew away, but he couldn’t read them. She breathed in once, slowly, then out again. “What was that?”
“Damned if I know.” Both of them eased back cautiously. “I think we’d better order that pizza.”
Relief and disappointment warred inside her. Anna put all her effort into supporting the relief. “Good idea. The number’s right next to the kitchen phone. If you don’t mind calling it in, I’d like to grab a quick shower, get some clothes on.”