Intrusion (11 page)

She clenched her teeth. “No, it’s not that—

“So, you don’t want to go first?”

“Damn it, why are you deliberately misunderstanding me.” She closed the distance between them and pressed a hand to his back, trying to get him to turn around. But he resisted. “I don’t care about going first. Your knee—”

“Is perfect,” he hissed.

“Would you just…look at me for a minute?”

He spun to face her, a neatly folded pile of clothes in one fist and a small bag in the other. His steely eyes narrowed, daring her to press further.

Go ahead. Ask.

She opened her mouth, but the question wouldn’t come. If she insisted on probing his demons, he’d take it as an open invitation to delve into hers. Nothing good ever came of that kind of give and take.

His lips twisted in a mirthless smile.
Chicken.

He pushed the items into her hands. “Go on. Get your shower.”

She took them and retreated into the bathroom like the coward she was. As she closed the door behind her, she caught Cam’s soft hum.

You’re as cold as ice.

She flicked the light switch and dipped her head to ward off a smile. Light reflected off a small kink of chain, barely visible inside the bag. She slipped her finger beneath the metal and tugged.

Dog tags.

She weighed them in her palm then held them up to catch the light. Her fingers grazed over the metal stamping:

SCOTT, CAMERON M

526-55-8912

A POS

PROTESTANT

Of course he’d been military. It all made sense. His strict code of honor. His confidence. His methodical, economic movements. Except when she thought of military men she pictured straight-laced and rigid. The opposite of Cam.

He blew that stereotype right out of the water. And that’s what worried her the most. She couldn’t pigeon hole him. If she could, she’d compartmentalize Cam—and forget all about him.

She set the clothes on the counter, digging through the bag until her fingers closed around a pair of scissors. Her reflection caught her eye and she studied her pale face and straggly hair in the mirror. As long as she was on the run from the law, she might as well look the part.

She picked up the scissors and started cutting

***

He’d had Audra in his arms, her mouth on his, and he’d blown it.

Cam dropped into the chair, putting his back to the bathroom door. He kicked the opposite chair into place so he could prop his left foot on it. His knee flexed and a hot electrical current zinged through the ligaments. It would hurt like the fires of hell come tomorrow, but the physical ache was nothing compared to the one his pride had just suffered.

Couldn’t his knee have held long enough for him to take one taste of her? He’d barely had Audra’s lips under his before the damn thing collapsed on him.

He dragged his laptop onto his lap and opened it, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the soft glow that penetrated the darkness. Any minute now Audra would walk out of the bathroom. He didn’t need the bright light to add insult to injury.

He ran his fingers across his keyboard, enjoying the familiar comfort of burying them in the keys. The soft creak of the bathroom door reached his ears and he tensed.

There she was.

Her footsteps plodded across the carpet and then stopped. Right behind him. He wanted to ask her how she managed to make the generic motel soap smell so damn good, but he held his breath and said nothing.

Let her make the first move.

The light above his head flicked on and seconds later a barrage of ice cubes hit his back. The frigid squares slipped under his shirt and slid down his spine.
Son of a bitch.
He bolted off the chair, dumping his laptop on the table, and whipped around.

“Now who’s cold as ice?” Audra’s warm voice did little to ease the sudden shock to his system.

He yanked his shirt over his head. Ice cubes pelted the carpet like hail. “Why in the hell did you do that?”

She shrugged. “I thought you needed to cool off.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s not working.” He intended to pin her with a glare, but as soon as he looked at her—really looked—his mouth went dry and the beads of ice-cold water seemed to sizzle across his back.

She’d cut her hair. Instead of it hanging past her shoulders, it now ended in slightly jagged layers just beneath her chin. The sweats he’d loaned her were too long and only her bare toes peeped out from beneath the hem. His faded Army t-shirt somehow accentuated her curves despite its baggy shape. And although she’d exhibited fire with her little ice cube stunt, vulnerability shone from her eyes.

His heart took a hit.
Who are you and what have you done with my kick ass scientist?

She swallowed and reached out to graze the scratches on his bare shoulder with her fingertips, reminding him he’d almost been too late to save her.

“I…I haven’t even thanked you yet, have I?” Her finger slid across his skin. “For saving my life.”

Heat leapt down his body. “Oh, you haven’t even begun to thank me for that yet.”

All his senses went on high alert as her body shifted imperceptibly closer.

“Cam…”

“Audra.” Her name strangled from his throat.

He yanked her into him, and covered her lips with his before she could protest. Pain radiated around his kneecap and down his leg, but it was so damn worth it for one taste of her sweet mouth. His tongue stroked the delicate seam of her lips and she stiffened, her jaw tensing under his fingertips.

Don’t pull away. Not yet. He hadn’t tasted his fill.

He caressed her cheekbones, traced their delicate curve until she sagged against him. Her lips softened and he nipped at her mouth until it parted for him. Blood thrummed in his veins. He plunged his tongue inside her mouth and slid his hands into the damp, silky curls of her hair.

She let out a low moan. One of her hands slid down his shoulder, her fist coming to rest against his hammering heart. He grasped her hips and tugged her closer. She rocked against him and the sexy move broke his control. God, he couldn’t get enough of her.

Her tongue held just the slightest mint toothpaste tang and he delved deeper into her mouth, torn between devouring it with rough strokes and worshipping it with deliberate sweetness.

And then, damn it all, common sense knocked them both in the heads. Audra pulled back at the same time he did. Their ragged breaths mingled and he knew if he wanted to save his sanity he should let her go.

His arms tightened around her.

She nodded her head in the direction of his laptop. “What were you doing?”

“Trying to understand why some glorified bullet proof vest is important enough to kill for.”

Her spine stiffened under his palm and her eyes sparked.
Well, hello, Dr. McCain.

“It’s much more than a bullet proof vest,” she said, her voice infused with energy. “Imagine the entire United States Army outfitted with full body armor hundreds of times stronger than Kevlar and as lightweight as a windbreaker. The carbon nanotubes I threaded into the fabric are filled with electromagnetic particles, so, if a soldier hears gunfire he can press a trigger and the charged particles will line up to create an impenetrable shield against even the toughest armor piercing ammunition.”

“Hoo-yah,” he whispered, his fingers itching to touch every inch of her skin. “All that scientific jargon really revs my hard drive.”

She blinked. Her tongue slipped out to wet her full lips. “It’s also g—germ proof and can act as a tourniquet if—”

He couldn’t control the impulse to run his thumb across her bottom lip. Hell, he wanted to kiss her again.
Down, boy. Focus.

“It would be hard to beat an Army like that out on a battlefield.”

“It would save lives.”

“Except if it fell into the wrong hands.”

“Oh, God, you think Margaret—Joe—”

“I think Joe is the kind of man who would seize the opportunity to make a bundle so he could spend the rest of his days sipping Pina Coladas in Margaritaville. Margaret, I can’t say one way or the other.”

“Maybe she needed the money to pay her daughter’s hospital bills, but I still can’t understand how she could do something like this. She knew how much this prototype meant to me. She was like a—”

Audra broke off, shaking her head.

“Like a what?”

“Nothing.” She pushed out of his arms and threw up her hands. “It just makes me so freaking angry, that’s all.”

That wasn’t what she’d meant to say. She’d been about to say Margaret was like a mother to her. He’d bet on it. But she’d decided to put the wall back up between them and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it—for now.

His gaze slid from the pale underside of her arm to her wrist and then over to her hand clenched around a dark object.

He touched her fist. “What do you have there?”

She uncurled her fingers and warm metal slid into his palm.

His tags.

His chest mangled tight. “Where did you get these?”

“I—they were in your bag. I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have pried.” She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “You were in the military?”

“Special Forces. Communications Sergeant.”

She tipped her head. “So…what happened?”

He shrugged and tossed the tags on the table. “Nothing. It was time to get out.”

“Oh, I thought, maybe…” She gestured to his leg.

“What? I’d busted my knee in some noble service to my country?”

She scooted around the table, putting a physical barrier between them in addition to the figurative one. “Sorry, sore subject.”

He shook his head, a harsh laugh choking from his chest. “Cameron Scott, wearer of the purple heart.”

He really didn’t want to explain that fuck up to her. There was heroically wounded and then there was…something else. He tightened his jaw and slammed his laptop closed.

When would his knee stop affecting every single corner of his life? He’d made his peace with the injury. Why wouldn’t it leave him some shred of dignity?

“Look, I’m pretty beat.”

Yeah? Now who was the one putting up walls?

He had to. It was one thing to exchange kisses—hell, even have a little fun with some casual sex—but anything more than that would expose his deepest flaws. He’d rather hold C-4 in his hands. At least when the explosives blew up in his face, they wouldn’t hurt as much.

“I should…try and get some sleep too.” Audra skirted around him. When she reached the bed, she turned and looked him in the eye. “And Cam? I don’t think you should kiss me again.”

She said it so matter-of-factly, as if she were telling him to expect rain in the forecast. A chuckle rumbled up from his chest. There was something about her that tapped into his wicked side. He generally loved to poke at people, but Audra somehow brought out the extra snap, crackle and pop in him.

He took two steps in her direction. “You know you liked it.”

“I also like chocolate cheesecake, that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”

He closed the gap another two steps. “But you eat it anyway, right?” He made fast work of the remaining two steps and reached out to stroke a finger down her cheek. “Because you can’t help yourself.”

Russet turbulence brewed in her wide amber eyes. “Nine point eight meters per second.” She drew in a shaky breath. “The strongest force on earth.”

He shook his head, trying to dislodge long buried textbook information from his brain. Nine point eight meters per second…

“Gravity?”

“Please don’t pull me into yours, Cam. I’m having a hard enough time keeping myself grounded.”

She bolted into her bed and pulling the covers to her chin, rolled away from him. He wanted to press her further. What did she really mean by that statement? But he was brought up short by the twisted ligaments in his knee. He dropped onto his bed, massaging the damaged tissue.

Gravity.

She’d described the magnetic pull between them perfectly. But if he didn’t find a way to quickly repel this attraction, he was sunk.

Chapter Nine

Margaret slapped her phone shut and blinked against the bright morning sun, trying not to let the erratic thumping in her chest become full blown panic. So Russ wasn’t answering his phone. So he hadn’t returned any of her phone calls. He had a company to run, projects under deadlines.

She pulled the keys to her minivan from her purse and tucked them into her palm as she strode across the hospital parking lot. Russ couldn’t drop everything to tend to her and Noelle. His absence meant nothing.

But Dr. Henning believed Noelle was on the verge of a breakthrough. Her last MRI showed that the swelling in her brain had completely disappeared. She could awaken any day now. What if Russ missed it?

Margaret shoved the key into her ten-year-old Ford Windstar and popped the lock. She slid behind the wheel, exhaustion worming its way into every limb, and flicked a distracted glance in her rearview mirror. Her heart leapt into her throat and pushed out a scream.

Someone. A man. In her back seat.

Another person leaned into view. “Margaret. It’s me.”

Audra?

She spun around in her seat. “Oh, my God, what are you doing here?” Her gaze darted from Audra to the broad shouldered man beside her. “Your face is all over the news and the police—”

“Are looking for me. Because of you.” Audra’s voice shook and a red flush crept up her cheeks. “How could you, Margaret? How could you do this to me?”

The force of her words sent Margaret reeling backwards. “What did I do?” The steering wheel jabbed at her spine. “I don’t—”

Audra slipped something out of her pocket and shoved it under Margaret’s nose. The sunlight glared on the thin plastic and broadsided her with surprise.

She blinked at the washed out photo of herself embedded in the cardkey. “How did you get this? I’ve looked everywhere for it. I thought maybe I’d dropped it somewhere.”

Audra made a sound in her throat and flicked the card in Margaret’s lap. “Yeah, you did. Right into Joe Walker’s hands.”