by Cynthia Eden
She could see sunlight trickling through her blinds. The night had ended, and James stood—completely dressed but with his hair sexily rumpled—near her bed.
He’d stayed all night with her.
She remembered him carrying her to her bedroom. Tucking her under the covers. She’d pretty much been boneless and limp at that point. From pleasure. From exhaustion. From the adrenaline rush that had finally left her. She’d assumed he’d left, too.
He’d…stayed?
She sat up, pulling the sheet with her. She should say something to him, and she finally managed to stammer, “Y-you stay out of trouble, too.”
He laughed. A rich, deep rumble of a laugh. “But I like trouble.” He winked at her. “And it usually has a way of finding me.”
There were so many things she didn’t know about him. Things she hadn’t asked. Things she’d thought wouldn’t matter. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected them to still be together at this point. Sex once, yes, maybe twice, but…
Her need for him wasn’t lessening. The more she was with him, the more she wanted him. That was dangerous. She knew it. It was dangerous to depend on anyone too much. “I…can’t see you tonight.”
“Okay.” He nodded.
That was it. No pressure. Just acceptance. Things with him always seemed so easy. Nothing was easy. She heard herself offering an explanation even though he hadn’t asked for one. “I work at the food pantry once a week. It’s a standing commitment that I won’t break.”
“Of course.” He nodded. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.” He nodded. Turned away.
“What does that mean?” Tess shoved her hair out of her eyes.
“It just means that I expect something like that from you. You’re the responsible type. The help-other-people type. The good—”
“You think I’m some sort of good girl?” First of all, she wasn’t a girl. She was a woman. And—
“I don’t think you’re good.” He turned to look back at her. “I think you’re fucking fantastic. And if I’d met you back when I still had a little part of my soul left, I would never, ever let you go.”
Tess sucked in a sharp breath. “What happened to your soul?” He seemed fine to her. He seemed—
“Ah, is that what we’re doing now? Sharing? Okay. You did open up to me last night, so I suppose it’s my turn.” He faced her and put his hands on his hips. “I sold my soul to Uncle Sam because I wanted a shot at a new life. Only that life wasn’t sunshine and daisies.”
Sunshine and—
“It was blood and death and nightmares that didn’t end. I was the nightmare, and there was no getting out of it. After a while, I didn’t want out. After a while, I didn’t want anything but that darkness. Because if you stand in the dark long enough, you start to like it. You like the power and the danger and the rush.”
She was holding the bed covers too tightly. “You’re trying to scare me right now.”
“Actually, I’m not.”
It sure didn’t seem that way to her.
“You’re too trusting, Tess.”
Her shoulders stiffened. Now he seemed angry with her.
“You fell asleep in my arms last night. Like I was a guardian angel or some shit.”
Or…like he’d been her boyfriend. He wasn’t. He was not.
“You were unconscious and vulnerable with a man you didn’t know. The more I thought about what you didn’t know…” He gave a hard, negative shake of his head. “You would never let me touch you again if you did know half the shit I’ve done. Hell, if you only knew one or two of the things I’ve done, you’d tell me to stay the hell away from you and never come back.”
This whole scene seemed out of control. Crazy. A moment ago, he’d been kissing her temple. Calling her sweetheart and now…what is happening? Tess rose from the bed and advanced toward him. “Why are you saying all of this?”
He lifted his hand. His knuckles brushed over her cheek. “Because I think I want you too much.”
If that was the case, then why was he acting this way? Saying those things? “You’re pushing me away.”
His hand fell. “You’re too trusting. You could have gotten seriously hurt in the hospital. You could have gotten hurt with me in your bed last night.”
“You said you’d never hurt me.”
“How do you know I’m not a liar? How do you know I’m not some criminal you should never, ever have near you?”
“Are you?”
His lips parted.
Her phone rang. The loud, shrill cry made her jump. Her phone was on the nightstand, and it vibrated again as it rang. “I… have to get that. Could be the hospital.” She reached out and curled her fingers around the phone. Tess didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but that was nothing new. Different numbers would call all the time. Just part of a doctor’s life. “Hello?”
Silence.
Maybe it was a bad connection.
“Hello?”
James took a step back. He turned and headed for her bedroom door.
“Wait,” Tess called to him. They needed to finish talking. They needed to—
“Found you,” a voice rasped on the other end of the line.
“Who is this?” Tess asked. “You’ve reached Dr. Barrett, and I’m not—”
The call ended. She tightened her hold on the phone and darted a fast glance at James. He’d opened her bedroom door.
He stood there, with his back to her. “I’m not a criminal.”
“I didn’t say you—”
“But I’ve done things that would make you have nightmares for the rest of your life. I thought it didn’t matter. Thought we could play this game and screw the consequences.”
She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet. “James?”
He looked back at her. “You should stay away from me.”
Goosebumps rose on her arms.
“Because if you don’t, I’m not sure I can let you go. I’ve lost too fucking much. You don’t want me to care about you.”
She was rooted to the spot. Clad only in a long t-shirt. Had he put her in the shirt? She didn’t even remember. She had been dead to the world after they’d made love. He was right. She’d been vulnerable. Too trusting. She was never like that because—
She didn’t trust anyone.
But did she trust him?
“You come near me again, and we’re going to have to rework our rules. Playtime is over.” His jaw hardened. “Be sure you lock the front door after me. And reset that shit security system.”
Why did he keep trash talking her security system? And why was he leaving her?
Her phone rang again. Dammit. She clutched the phone tighter as she hurried after James. A glance at her screen showed her Devin’s name. Tess knew she had to answer. Could be an emergency at the hospital and—
James was striding out the front door.
“Why?” The question tore from her. “Why are you changing everything this morning?”
He spun toward her. “Because I think things changed for me last night.” His lips pressed together and he gritted out, “Answer the call, Tess.”
“Don’t leave.” They weren’t done. She put the phone to her ear. “Devin, what is it?”
“Your patient has vanished.”
“What?”
James glanced heavenward. “Figured it would be that asshole calling you first thing in the morning.”
“Is…someone there?” Devin’s voice was stilted.
“Yes.” That was all she’d say. All he needed to know. “What patient? What are you talking about?”
“The guy who got choke crazy last night. Frederick Waller. He tore out his IVs during the night and rushed away while his nurse was with another patient.”
He’d been recovered enough to sneak out of the hospital?
“Security cams caught him staggering out after midnight. He vanished, and the admin put in a call to his brother to let the guy know Frederick would probably be up to his old tricks again soon
.” A pause. “Not the first time an addict ran away, not the last, either. Just thought you’d want to know.”
“I do want to know. Thank you.”
He hung up. She lowered the phone. Gazed at James. “Did you catch that?”
“Not enough of it.”
“The patient from last night…” The fingers of her left hand brushed over her neck. “He tore out his IV and left the hospital. Slipped past his nurse because she was working with someone else. Security footage caught him, but by then, it was too late.”
He lifted a brow. “I’m guessing the guy was clad only in his hospital gown during the big escape?”
She had no idea but probably.
“And that didn’t red flag anyone?” His jaw hardened.
“Hospitals get crazy at night.” Crazier than most would ever believe. “For all I know, he could have stolen clothes from someone else—or just gotten access to his own clothing. His brother might have brought stuff in for him. And the brother—Devin said Morgan Waller had been alerted.”
“Alerted. Right.” James nodded. “Well, I’ve got to go. There’s business I need to take care of this morning.”
He seemed so cold. He’d never been cold with her before. “James?” She struggled to think of something to say. “Want breakfast?”
He squared his shoulders. “I told you my terms. You think about them.” He turned away.
He was leaving. She didn’t want him to go. “Everything was fine last night.”
His hand gripped the doorknob. “I told you, everything changed last night.”
“You want more than I can give.” Dammit. She had to blink because her vision had gotten a little blurry. She tossed down the phone onto the entrance table.
“You’re right. I do want more. That’s the problem, you see, when it comes to you, I’m a greedy bastard.” He considered that. “No, I’m a greedy bastard in general. Just a character flaw I have.”
She hadn’t expected this pain. “You want to collect me? Is that it? Like you do everything else in your life?”
His head turned. His golden eyes burned as they locked on her. “If I could, I would fucking own you.”
What? She took a step back.
“Because I’m starting to think that you might already own me.”
Tess could only shake her head.
“That’s why I’m leaving. That’s why it’s changing. New rules. If you’re up for the challenge, you know where to find me.” A muscle jerked along the hard line of his jaw. “And lock the friggin’ door.”
Just like that, he was gone.
She locked the friggin’ door.
And tried to figure out what the hell he’d meant when James said…
I’m starting to think that you might already own me.
Chapter Six
“Someone had a late night.”
“Do not fuck with me this morning, Barnes. I will kick your ass.”
Barnes straightened from his position behind the bar. James had just marched into the club, and he was not in the mood for any shit.
I gave her an ultimatum. What in the hell is wrong with me? He wasn’t the ultimatum type. He wasn’t the emotional type. And he’d just met the woman.
He hadn’t felt like this since…
Had he ever really felt like this?
A teenage boy’s emotions weren’t a freaking thing compared to the chaos surging through his body and mind right then.
“So…the night was bad?” Barnes ventured.
James stopped and glowered. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides. “I’m going to need you to find someone for me.”
Barnes immediately perked up. “Is this like…a case? Are we working freelance with Wilde Protection and Securities again?”
Wilde? Not this time. The elite firm wouldn’t exactly approve of his plans for the day. “You know how pro ballers have to keep practicing or else their skills get rusty?”
Barnes nodded. “Uh, huh. Sure.” Worry flickered in his eyes.
“I mean, if a pitcher doesn’t practice his technique, he can’t expect to walk onto a mound and strike out the batter, can he?”
“I don’t think I like where this is going…”
Too bad. “So if I don’t practice my particular skill set, how will I stay sharp?”
“Oh, God.” Barnes swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
James smiled. “You’re going to find a man who’s missing for me, and then I’m going to practice my technique.”
***
He got in without much effort at all. The missing patient from Tess’s hospital—Frederick Waller—rented an apartment near the river. There were a few locks on the door. Barely took any time to get past them, and the man had no interior security system at all.
Shocker.
What was surprising—the apartment was nice. High end. Waller had seemed like a hard drug user the night before, so James was a bit surprised by the place. But then, Barnes had discovered that Frederick’s brother was loaded. Maybe the brother helped out with rent payments.
Not really his concern at the moment. James had one mission. Only one.
Get in. Get the job done. Get out. Leave no trace.
Be just like a ghost.
Ghost. There was a reason he’d earned that code name during his years working for Uncle Sam. He’d been flawless. No one ever saw him. Not unless he wanted to be seen. No one ever stopped him.
As far as his enemies were concerned, there was no safe place. He could get through locked doors or concrete walls in order to complete his mission.
So it was easy to slip into Frederick’s apartment. To search the place but to discover that no, his prey wasn’t there. That was okay. James was patient. He could wait.
Ghosts were good at waiting.
But he didn’t wait inside the apartment. No sense caging himself in that way. James slipped out of the building. Headed for the alley nearby. The perfect place to blend with the shadows. And…
Well, hello, prey.
The perfect place to find Frederick trying to make a deal for drugs.
Some people didn’t learn.
Frederick had better start learning.
The dealer—rather, would-be-dealer—suddenly turned and ran away from Frederick.
“Wait, man!” Frederick yelled. “I swear, I’m good for the money! Just come back. Give me a chance, I can—”
James caught Frederick from behind. Slammed him into the brick wall. Then pulled him deeper into the shadows. Frederick struggled, but he wasn’t using the strength of an amped up madman this time, so his struggles were bullshit, despite his size.
“Let me go, jerk! Let me—”
James pushed the blade of a knife against the other man’s throat. “Do you feel this?”
All struggles stopped. “I-I don’t have any money.” A pathetic whisper. “If I did…I would’ve—”
“Scored enough drugs from your dealer to have you attacking another doctor? Gotten enough shit in your system again to have you strangling an innocent woman?” The rage was there, but he was in control.
“I-I don’t remember—”
“Remember this,” James told him, voice low and hard and promising, “you ever try to hurt Dr. Tess Barrett again, and you are a dead man. I will slice your throat from ear to ear.” He let the blade prick his prey.
Frederick whimpered.
“I can find you anywhere, anytime. I can kill you before you ever have the breath to scream.”
James caught the stench of urine. Sonofabitch. “Get your life together, dumbass. Get in rehab before you wind up dead. Your heart stopped last night. Do you even know that shit?”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I don’t—”
“Get your life together. While you still have one.”
James yanked back the blade. Slammed Frederick into the wall once more for the hell of it. The guy stumbled and fell, and by the time Frederick rose…
James was gone.
&
nbsp; ***
“Okay, we’re done for the night. Now I want to go somewhere and hear every single detail about what happened between you and your sexy, dangerous hero.” Latonya exited the food pantry with Tess. She looped their arms together. Latonya always did that. Looped and laughed and got close. She’d gotten past Tess’s guard before Tess had even known what was happening.
They’d met in medical school. Latonya was a few years older than Tess, but Latonya hadn’t treated her the way so many of the others had. She’d treated Tess like an equal from day one.
Latonya was blunt, hilarious, and often unfiltered. She was wonderful.
“I heard about it, of course, because our hospital gossip mill goes crazy whenever drama goes down. But I like to hear things straight from the source.” She paused under a street light and lifted her brows. “Marilyn said he was all kickass and cool. Was he?”
“Yes.” James had been very kickass. And fast. He’d moved so fast. His punches had been… “He was intense.”
“Yes, well, someone was strangling you. Your lover had better be intense in response, or you’re with the wrong guy.” She snorted. “Word is Devin had his scared ass in the hallway, behind a security guard. He saw the shit going down and immediately went for cover.”
That sounded like Devin.
“Let’s find a diner and a booth, and we can split some crazy delicious food, and I can learn more about your hero.”
Tess and Latonya had a routine. After working at the food pantry, they always went to a nearby diner and chatted for an hour or so. The conversation was usually light and easy, and Tess felt good hanging with her friend.
But tonight… “There’s nothing to tell.” She glanced across the street. Her Jeep waited. “I think we’re over.”
“Oh, God. If that’s the case, we absolutely need the diner. And we’re hitting dessert first.” She turned to fully face Tess. “Did that asshole break up with you?”
“Um, I’m not sure.”
Latonya waited.
“I think so?” Tess didn’t have a whole lot more to offer.
Latonya shook her head. “Let’s get the dessert. We’ll eat and figure things out.” They headed for the crosswalk. Waited for the light to turn for them. Right on cue.
They began walking across the street.