Читать книгу Way of the Shadows - Cynthia Eden - Страница 9

Chapter Two

“You need to strip.”

The cabin door slammed closed behind Noelle. At Thomas’s growled words, Noelle stiffened. “Excuse me?”

They’d been walking for what felt like an hour. They’d taken the turnoff from the main road and slogged ahead until they’d found this place—a rundown, one-room cabin, which looked as if it hadn’t been used in years.

It was as cold inside as it was outside. Noelle couldn’t stop the shivers that rocked her body.

“Your core temperature is too low,” Thomas told her flatly. “We have to get warm. The snow wet our clothing, so we have to ditch it.” He was leaning over what looked like one very ancient fireplace. “Lucky damn night,” he rasped. “There’s some old wood here.”

Uh, yeah, but how were they going to light that fire and—

He pulled out a small kit from his pocket and went to work. A flame flared seconds later.

Her breath expelled in a relieved rush.

Still kneeling in front of the fire, Thomas glanced back at her. “There was no way I’d come into the Alaskan wilderness without a fire kit.”

She shivered. Again.

“Strip,” he ordered once more.

The cabin was deserted, so they sure weren’t going to get any rescue crew out there that night. But if they didn’t warm up, soon, Noelle realized the odds of them making it until morning weren’t going to be high.

Thomas headed toward her.

Noelle tensed.

“There you go again,” he said, and he sounded angry. “When will you learn, I’m not going to bite?”

“I—”

He brushed by her and yanked open a small closet. No, he yanked down that closet’s door; the old thing just literally fell off its hinges. “This will have to do for kindling ’cause we aren’t finding any dry wood outside.” He broke the door into heavy chunks. He had the fire flaring even higher when he added it. His back was turned to her as she inched toward that inviting warmth.

“My clothes are hitting the floor,” Thomas told her bluntly. “Yours need to do the same.”

Because they were soaked. But...

He stripped out of his sweater. Dropped the shirt he’d worn under it for layering. When he bent to remove his boots and socks, the firelight flickered over the tight muscles in his chest and arms. He had to work out—a lot. She’d never seen anyone with such sculpted muscles. As she stared at him—probably too long and too hard—Noelle could just make out the...scars on his body. Twisting, sharp, they snaked around his abs and lined his back.

She remembered the wound notations in his files. He’d been captured on a mission a while back. Held. Tortured. But, by the time rescue had come, all of his captors had been dead.

Thomas turned then. He still wore his jeans. His eyes met hers. “It’s not personal,” he told her in his deep, dark voice. “It’s survival.”

She felt her cheeks burn. Well, at least burning was better than freezing. Noelle fumbled and her clothes started to hit the floor. His jacket. Hers. Her sweater. Her undershirt. Her boots. Her socks.

Her fingers were fumbling, uncoordinated, as she tried to unhook the snap of her jeans.

“Let me.” His voice was rougher than before, and his fingers were suddenly working at her waistband. He was so close, seeming to surround her with his strength. Noelle tried to pull in a deep breath, and his scent—masculine and crisp—wrapped around her.

Her zipper eased down with a hiss of sound.

She jerked back from him. Nearly fell. Would have, if Thomas hadn’t snagged her arm so quickly. “Easy,” he murmured.

Easy was the last thing she felt right then.

His fingers slowly uncurled their grip. “I’ll spread out our clothes to dry. We should try to get some rest near the fire.”

Noelle didn’t hold out a lot of hope regarding rest. She bent and pushed her jeans down her legs. Then she looked up. Thomas had turned his back to her, but he’d stuck his hand out behind him, obviously waiting for her jeans. She pushed them into his hand.

“The rest,” Thomas pressed.

“No way,” Noelle said, aware that her voice held a sharp snap. “I’m keeping on my underwear, and I want you to do the same.” Her panties and her bra were dry enough, and she was absolutely not planning to flash him any more than necessary.

Noelle thought she heard Thomas sigh, but he bent and finished spreading out her clothes. And his. And—

“Sorry,” he said, voice a bit wry as she jerked her gaze off him and back toward the fire. “But I’m not wearing underwear.”

No, no, he hadn’t been.

Noelle dropped toward the fire. She sat on the floor and pulled her knees up toward her. She was still shivering, and the tips of her fingers and toes were starting to ache.

A few moments later, Thomas eased down next to her. He reached for her.

The flinch was instinctive. She’d been withdrawing from people ever since—well, ever since she’d been seventeen years old and she’d woken, terrified, in a cabin that had actually looked a whole lot like the one they were currently in.

Her shoulders hunched.

“We need to share body warmth,” he said again. “Don’t worry I think I can control myself here.”

Okay, now he was just mocking her.

But his hands gently curled around her, and he eased her fully down on the wooden floor next to him. Then he curled his body around hers. His left arm slid under her head, almost like a pillow, while his right curled around her stomach and pulled her back against the warm, hard cradle of his body.

“I think that I can,” he added roughly, his breath blowing over the shell of her ear.

The fire crackled in front of her.

Noelle swallowed and tried to figure out what she was supposed to do in this situation. Being naked and trapped in a one-room cabin with Agent Thomas Anthony certainly hadn’t been on her to-do list.

“I think we have confirmation of the senator’s guilt.”

His rumbling voice seemed to roll right through her.

“We visit the senator,” Thomas continued grimly, “then less than half an hour later, some maniac tries to kill us. Connecting those dots sure isn’t hard.”

No, it wasn’t, and Noelle had never been the type to believe in coincidences. She tried to put a little more space between their bodies.

Thomas just pulled her right back against him. “He left the scene because he thinks we’re dead.”

“If we hadn’t cleared the SUV right then, we would be dead.” Her own words were quiet and they gave no hint to the terror that had rocked through her as she fought to get out of the vehicle. As cold as it was outside...if they’d plunged beneath the ice in that lake, survival would have been only a dim hope. “But I don’t know if the senator did this himself. He strikes me as more of a guy who hires out his dirty work.” After all, that was exactly what they thought he’d done in D.C.—hired Jack to take out the EOD.

And as far as getting rid of her and Thomas, well, she was sure that counted as dirty work.

“He just tried to kill two federal agents,” Thomas’s lips brushed against her neck. Had he meant to do that? Surely not. “Whether he did it himself or he hired someone, we’re getting the guy. At first light, we’re finding a way out of this place, and we’re going after him.”

First light. That certainly seemed very far away.

“He panicked.” That was the only explanation she had. “Something set him off during our meeting.” Something they’d said or done.

“He got set off because the FBI was at his door. The guy’s probably trying to run as fast and as far as he can right now.”

Noelle wasn’t so sure. If he thought they were dead, why would he bother to run?

“But I’ll find him,” Thomas vowed. “I won’t stop until I do.”

The fire surged a bit higher then, sending sparks into the air.

“We should get some sleep.” His voice softened a bit. “Who the hell knows what we’ll face tomorrow.”

Since they’d just survived one attempt on their lives, Noelle knew he was right.

Her gaze drifted away from the fire. She glanced at the flickering shadows lining the walls. This place... It was just like the cabin that haunted her nightmares. Those nightmares chased her wherever she went, no matter what she did.

“You’re too tense,” he said. “Look, I get that you don’t like me, but—”

“I like you just fine.” How awkward was this conversation? But he had a right to know... “It’s not you that I’m afraid of, okay? It’s...this place.”

He was silent behind her. But his fingers moved lightly against her stomach. Almost as if he were caressing her.

“We’re safe.”

Her gaze slid to the right. His gun was there. Within easy reach. “Sometimes, I don’t ever feel safe.” As soon as she said the words, Noelle wished she could call them back. She’d never made that confession to anyone.

“Why not?” His hold definitely tightened then.

Noelle shook her head. She was feeling warmer, so much warmer now. The shivers and shudders were easing. “Because I’m never sure what waits in the darkness.” But she wasn’t talking about the darkness outside the cabin. She was talking about the darkness in her own mind.

He was silent behind her.

And Noelle found she couldn’t stop talking, not to him. Not then. “When I was seventeen, I was...taken.” Just saying the words hurt, but it also seemed a relief to put them out there. “I was missing from my home for over forty-eight hours before the police found me.” She was glad she wasn’t looking into his face when she told this story. Noelle wasn’t sure she wanted to see his reaction. “Forty-eight hours,” she said again, whispering the words. “And to this day, I still can’t remember a single thing that happened during that time.” When she tried to remember, she only saw the darkness.

“Maybe you’re better off not remembering.”

That was what her mother had told her, over and over. Her mother had thought it would be better to just move forward. To put those two days into the back of her mind and pretend they hadn’t happened.

But they had happened. They’d changed her.

“When the police found me, a dead man was in the cabin with me.”

Silence. Then, “You think you killed him?”

“I was tied, bound to a chair. Someone else was there.” The man’s accomplice? Another shudder had her body quaking. But she didn’t know if that shudder came from the cold or from the fear in her belly. “A killer was there, and I can’t remember a thing about him.”

That scared her more than anything else. Because that man—that killer—he could be anyone. He could be anywhere. She could have met him a hundred times and never known.

She’d become a profiler because of what happened. Because she wanted to be able to see the murderers out there. To look behind the masks they wore.

What she’d discovered during the course of her career was that monsters were real. They just wore the guise of men.

Her eyes squeezed closed. She didn’t know why she’d revealed so much to Thomas. In the harsh light of dawn, she knew she’d regret sharing so much with him. But, right then, she still just felt that strange relief.

And the fear slid away as the fire warmed her and he held her close. It was odd to feel so secure...in the arms of a dragon.

* * *

THE DOOR TO Lawrence Duncan’s study opened with a rasp of sound. Lawrence glanced up, expecting to see Paula, but she wasn’t in the doorway. Still, he smiled when he saw just who had come to pay him a late-night visit. “I take it that you accomplished our task?”

His visitor took a step inside his study. “Their vehicle won’t be found.”

“Good.” His eyes narrowed as he studied the man before him. “This shouldn’t have happened, you know. I’m supposed to be clear. Instead, I’m cleaning up your messes.” His breath heaved out. “Noelle Evers. She should’ve died years ago, and we both know it.”

The floor creaked as the man edged closer to Lawrence. “I didn’t want Noelle to die this way. I wanted—”

“To cut her throat yourself? Yes, well, I know how you enjoy getting up close, but that wasn’t going to happen.” Lawrence shot to his feet and paced toward the window on the right. When he looked out, he just saw darkness. “She’s not some scared kid any longer. She’s FBI. And if we hadn’t taken her out then—”

His words ended, cut off with a gurgle of sound because—because a knife had just sliced across his throat.

“I was saving her for later.” The words were snarled into Lawrence’s ear. “She would have been special. Now she’s gone.”

Lawrence’s hand flew to his neck, but he couldn’t stop the flow. His knees gave way. He tried to grab for the window curtain, but his bloody hands just slipped over the fabric. He hit the floor.

His eyes were open and staring up at the killer above him.

“You were a threat, too,” the killer told him. “Because you knew what I’d done.” He smiled down at Lawrence. “But you won’t tell anyone now, will you? You can’t tell anyone.” His smile faded away. “And I won’t be on your leash any longer. From here on out, no one controls me.”

* * *

SHE WAS ASLEEP in his arms. Noelle’s breathing was easy and soft, and all of the tension had drained from her body. She was a silken weight against Thomas, and her scent—light and sweet—wrapped deeply around him.

He’d told her that it wasn’t personal. That it was just about survival.

He was such a liar. With her, everything was personal. It had been, for far longer than she realized.

His left arm was still under her head. His fingers were starting to go numb, but Thomas didn’t care. She was comfortable, and he had no intention of moving. He’d dreamed of holding her before, but he hadn’t ever thought he’d actually get this close to her.

Some dreams were so much better in reality.

His lips brushed lightly over her hair. If she’d been awake, he wouldn’t have dared such a move. But asleep...

I’ll make my control hold. It was a good thing she wasn’t aware right then. There’d be no hiding the arousal he felt when she was near.

He figured an hour had passed. The flames were still crackling. They were secure for the night, but he had no intention of closing his eyes anytime soon. With his perfect temptation nestled so closely to him, sleep wasn’t exactly high on his priority list. Besides, he wanted to keep her safe, and keeping Noelle safe meant someone had to stay awake for guard duty.

“Let me go...”

The words were so soft that, at first, he thought he’d just imagined them, but then Noelle began to struggle lightly against his hold. “Please,” she whispered, and the plea cut right through him. “Don’t hurt me.”

Never.

She twisted in his hold, her struggles growing stronger. “Let me go!”

“Noelle.” He knew she was having a nightmare. She’d revealed so much to him in the darkness. “Noelle, you’re safe.” With him, she’d always be safe. He wished she would realize that.

She rolled then, and he eased his hold as she turned toward him. Her body came flush against his, and he was stunned to see her eyes were wide open. “Noelle?”

“I won’t tell,” she said, and her voice was wrong. Too soft. Too lost. “Just let me go.” Her hands pushed against him.

He shifted his body, caught her hands and pinned them lightly to the floor. “Look at me.” Thomas said the words deliberately because he knew Noelle wasn’t seeing him. She was just staring at images from her past.

How often did this happen? How often did she get trapped in the same nightmare?

“Don’t hurt me...”

She was breaking him. Thomas had to make Noelle see what was right in front of her. Damn it, he’d worried when he saw this place it might stir up her past, but he hadn’t exactly been given a choice. It had been this dump of a cabin or nothing, and he hadn’t planned to just stand by while she suffered.

“Noelle...” Her name was a growl of frustration. Then he did the only thing he could—Thomas kissed her.

He’d often thought about kissing Noelle, tasting her. But he’d sure never imagined their first taste would be like this.

Her lips were soft beneath his. He kissed her slowly, carefully. He wanted to pull her back from the past and get her to see the present. To see him.

She stiffened against him as he kissed her. He knew awareness was flooding back for her. He knew he should pull away.

He also knew that he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any other woman.

So when her lips parted in surprise, he didn’t do the right thing. He didn’t pull back and ask her if she was okay.

He kissed her harder. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and he savored her. With every movement of his lips against hers, Thomas just wanted more.

He wanted everything.

One day, he’d get it.

Her breasts were pressed to his chest. Her smooth legs were trapped between his thighs. And—

She was kissing him back. Slowly at first then with more passion, with a need he hadn’t expected.

Desire surged within him. Noelle wants me, too. He’d never expected to find the passion hiding behind her fear.

His heart thudded in his ears. He was so close to having her. Only the thin scrap of lace she wore shielded her from him. When he’d first seen the black bra and that tiny bit that passed for her panties, lust had surged through him.

He wanted to touch every inch of her then.

He freed her wrists so he could explore her body. He’d make it good for her. He’d give her so much pleasure. Enough to chase away any nightmares that ever dared to whisper through her mind again.

When he let her wrists go, her hands immediately curled around his shoulders. He kissed his way down her throat. Her pulse raced beneath his mouth, and Thomas had to lick that spot right there. She moaned lightly, and his teeth grazed over the flesh. He wanted her so much his whole body seemed to flash molten hot.

“Thomas?” Desire was in her voice, and he loved the sound of his name on her lips.

His hand was on her rib cage. He wanted that bra gone. He wanted—

Her.

“Thomas...no, we’re partners.” Confusion fought with the desire in Noelle’s husky voice. “I— We can’t.”

Oh, they could. They could do it so well and so long, but Thomas stilled at her words. His head lifted. He met her stare, and he knew she’d read fierce hunger in his eyes.

Her hands seemed to burn against his skin. He was so close to the thing he wanted most. So very close.

Thomas pulled away from her and rose to his feet. His jeans were still a little damp, but he pulled them on. Staying naked with her sure wasn’t an option then. He turned his back to her as he yanked up the zipper.

“I...I didn’t mean to let things get so far.” Her soft voice came from behind him.

He sucked in a deep breath, then glanced over his shoulder at her. She’d sat up and her hands were now curled around her folded knees. Damn. Noelle was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. “You were having a bad dream.”

Her brows rose at that.

“I kissed you to try and wake you up.” Only she hadn’t been sleeping, not really. He thought maybe she’d had more of a flashback than a nightmare. Thomas cleared his throat. “I’m the one who didn’t mean to let things get this far.” Not yet. He had plans for Noelle, and those plans hadn’t included this pit stop at a rundown shack in the middle of nowhere.

“I don’t remember the nightmare.” Her gaze dropped from his. “But then, I never do.”

He turned to fully face her. The fire crackled behind him. “Maybe it’s good to get a few things out in the open now.”

Her chin lifted as her eyes found his once more.

“I want you.”

“We’re partners—”

“It’s a temporary assignment, and we both know it. Mercer doesn’t plan to keep you in the field. He wants you in the EOD main office, working up your profiles. This is a one-shot mission for us.” So the normal rules weren’t applying. When it came to Noelle, Thomas had no rules. “I want you,” he said again, “and unless I’m mistaken, you want me, too.”

She didn’t speak.

His jaw locked. He’d felt her desire, tasted it. He knew—

“I do,” Noelle said, the words so quiet he had to strain in order to hear them.

His heart seemed to stop at that admission.

“But I know better than to take everything I want. Especially when what I want can be dangerous to me.”

“You can trust me,” he growled. He wasn’t a threat to her. Damn it, yes, he knew the stories that circulated about him at the EOD. That the Dragon was a cold-blooded killer with ice in his veins and that he killed without remorse. That isn’t me. He needed Noelle to see him for the man he truly was.

Her body tensed. “I can’t trust myself.”

He didn’t even know what that meant.

But before he could question her more, he heard the faint roar of—an engine?

He saw Noelle’s head whip toward the door, and he knew she’d heard the sound, too. He grabbed for the rest of his clothes and dressed as quickly as he could. Noelle was scrambling to her feet and pulling on her still-wet clothing.

His fingers curled around his gun. Was that a rescuer coming to find them, someone who’d been alerted by the smoke rising from the old chimney? Or was it the maniac in the truck, coming back to finish them off? Thomas had known the fire would pose risks for him and Noelle. The smoke would give away their location, but staying warm had been a priority.

The roar of the approaching engine grew louder.

Noelle hurried to Thomas’s side. “Stay behind me,” he told her with a firm glare. “Until we find out just who is coming this way.”

“You’re the one with the gun,” she said with a shrug as she lifted her hands. “Letting you take the lead is more than fine by me.”

He cracked open the front door. He could see the bright glint of headlights coming toward the cabin. That roar—it was from what looked like a snowplow. Thomas could just make out its bulk.

He inched onto the sagging porch, keeping his gun at his side. A quick count showed him three vehicles were coming his way, and none of those vehicles looked like the truck that had run them off the road. Actually one of those vehicles—

A siren screamed on. Blue lights flashed.

Right. One of those vehicles looked like a deputy’s car.

More bright lights flooded the scene, illuminating Thomas and Noelle on the porch. Thomas wisely kept his weapon hidden.

Noelle’s arm brushed against Thomas’s side. “We’re FBI!” Noelle called out as she moved forward. They were both supposed to keep using that cover, no matter what.

Doors slammed. Two men ran toward them. “We were hoping it was you,” one of the man huffed out. “I’m Sheriff Glen Hodges. Your FBI boss has been calling our office for hours because you missed some sort of check-in.”

Ah, that boss would be Mercer, and yes, they had missed their check-in. Thomas was actually surprised Mercer hadn’t sent the National Guard after them. When it came to protecting his agents, Mercer was as fierce as any lion.

“We saw the smoke,” the man beside Sheriff Hodges said, as he rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. “No one has been using Brian Lakely’s place in years, so we thought it might be you.”

Thomas advanced toward the men.

“Did you have car trouble?” Hodges asked, shaking his head. “How the heck did you wind up out here?”

“We had car trouble,” Thomas agreed softly. “And the trouble started when some bozo ran us off the road and left us for dead.”

“What?” The shocked exclamation came as the sheriff shot back a good two feet. “But we don’t have trouble like that out here in Camden—”

“Well,” Thomas drawled, “it looks like you do now. Because someone out there just tried to kill two federal agents.” Thomas planned to get his hands on that someone very soon.

Senator Duncan, I’m coming for you.