Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Of Monsters & Men
Lynnette had sailed past second- or triple-guessing herself long before she unlocked her front door and led the way inside.
The conservative side of her was shrieking at the mere notion of having suggested a man she might have just gone on a first date with follow her home.
Lord knew her dad would throw a fit. But she did her best to silence both those internal voices, as well as the one that immediately filled the silence with mortified self-consciousness over worries of her handsome guest’s opinion of her modest home.
Opinions on her home, like impressions from outsiders as to what she was doing, were irrelevant. They didn’t matter.
“It’s not much,” she heard herself saying anyway as she flicked the living room light on, “but make yourself comfortable. Are you thirsty? Did you want anything?”
Lance chuckled as he ambled into the indicated space, his voice an octave lower than usual when he replied, “Not the way you mean, no.”
A shiver rolled down her spine that had nothing to do with the evening chill outside.
She’d spent most of the day with him, and it was safe to say, Lynnette had never met a man who affected her the way Lance did.
It was irrational. Illogical. All her life, she’d avoided men like him—protective alpha male types who might, potentially, stick her in the vulnerable female box merely because she had a uterus.
Yet the way he defended her, the way he continued to make his interest clear throughout their conversation while still respecting her minimum boundaries, all of it made her heart beat too fast. Her stomach was fluttering.
Because she liked it. And she had no idea how to handle that.
“Oh,” Lance said suddenly, “before I forget.” He rummaged into a pocket and tossed something she could barely see at her, causing her to fumble the small, black device.
A thumb drive, she realized. She blinked at it once before looking back up at him.
He indicated the item clutched in her palm.
“That’s yours, as promised. I won’t tell you what to do with it.
” His arm lowered and something darkened his pale green eyes.
“I mean that,” he said, “but I am askin’.
Let me handle it, Lynn. Please. I’m guessing you wanted to do things the upright way, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But it’s too damn much better than that fucker deserves.
I know what he’s done. Let me take care of him. ”
Her fingers curled around the drive as realization slammed into her chest and forced the air from her lungs.
She swallowed hard. It wasn’t hard to believe someone with his life experience had contacts.
He’d probably found some poorly buried digital trail of the original complaint she’d filed—the one the hospital she no longer owed a lick of loyalty to had sworn they’d locked away.
She’d always assumed they meant ‘deleted’ and simply weren’t using that word to avoid giving her cause to slap them with the lawsuit they were so afraid of.
And if Lance had found that, and obviously watched her latest video-defense against Gavin Bishop, then Lance knew.
Lance knew what Bishop had done to her, what the hospital had done in response, and he was asking her to stand down.
Lynnette sucked in a hard breath. “Why should I?” Her question was a grated whisper in the almost painful silence that had built between them. But it was necessary. “Why should I not go after him? I can go after all of them now that they let Gayle fire me for her bullshit reasons.”
Lance’s eyes widened and she realized her mistake.
He hissed out a curse, jaw jumping with tension as his hands flexed at his sides. “They fucking fired you? For what? Making them look bad?”
A strained laugh scraped out of her and her arms swung down to her sides. “That would upset me less,” she said, trying to smile. For all she knew, that was Claire’s reason. But it didn’t explain Gayle’s hate. Gayle had been against her before they’d ever met.
Lance closed the distance between them before she could blink, his hands cupping her cheeks as he tilted her head back to keep her eyes on his.
He was alarmingly close. Even in the less-than-perfect lighting of the space, he’d see her face burn red at their new proximity.
But his alluring eyes held hers captive and she failed to protest, to try to push him off, and then he was speaking.
“Bring your lawsuit against whoever you need to bring it against, sweetheart,” he said quietly.
There was a storm behind his calmly spoken words, but no imminent threat.
“You just might have to sue Bishop posthumously. There’s no court, no verdict, that can deliver the punishment that scumbag deserves. ”
Her hands rose without conscious direction, her fingers resting over his torso.
“He’s … he’s abused others, hasn’t he? Hurt them?
” Bishop had gotten his hands on her, it was true.
He’d made too many advances, ignored her at every turn, but he’d never gotten what he’d so obviously been after.
He’d underestimated her. And he’d been furious about it ever since.
But in the back of her mind, Lynnette had always feared she hadn’t been the first he’d come after.
Lance dipped his chin. “Other nurses. Patients.” His brow furrowed. “His own daughter.”
Lynnette curled her fingers into Lance’s shirt as her stomach dropped. “His—” She hadn’t even known Bishop had a child.
Lance leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, bringing their bodies closer.
The contact lingered before he murmured, “He served time for that, and his ex took the girl out of state as soon as the verdict came down. So, there’s that.
But yeah.” He eased back. “Bishop isn’t his real name, and the bastard’s not from Washington.
He created a whole new identity for himself and took advantage of a new hospital that was a little desperate for talented surgeons.
Doesn’t excuse the weak background check or the lies, but that seems to be what happened. ”
So, the hospital wasn’t as to blame as she’d thought for the past five seconds. That only eased the appalled fury in her chest so much.
Lynnette pulled one hand from Lance’s chest and looked down at the drive still held in her palm, pinned in place by her thumb.
She could use the video he’d returned to her to set a lawsuit in motion.
Doing so would bolster her own case for an unjust and targeted firing, and maybe that would help balance out her reputation as far as getting a new job.
In the meantime, she’d have to afford that lawsuit, after finding such a lawyer, and who knew how long she’d be unemployed regardless of it all.
He’s so much more of a monster than I thought.
She curled her fingers around the drive, then reached out and gripped Lance’s shirt again as she lifted her eyes back to his. “I don’t ever want to lay eyes on Gavin Bishop—or whatever the hell his name is—again. Do with that what you will.”
He smirked. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’d also like to stop talking about him, or all of that.”
“No problem.” Lance trailed a hand down, his fingers blazing the side of her neck in a too-light, scalding touch.
The heat seared right through her and Lynnette moved closer. “Are you ever going to kiss me?”
“Fuck, yeah,” Lance said on a grunt. His hand settled at her nape and he bent down, sealing his lips to hers.
The kiss was demanding from the start. His hunger bled into her as the hand that had been cupping her jaw drifted lower, anchoring over the small of her back at the same time as he licked across the seam of her lips.
She opened for him without hesitation. The drive fell, forgotten, from her grip as she reached up to curl her arms around his neck and the hand at her nape lifted to tangle into her hair.
His tongue swept through her mouth, swirling along hers before separating to stroke each new surface, inevitably to return.
Lance sucked her tongue into his mouth as he held her tight to him and Lynnette heard herself moan.
She could feel him pressing against her.
She could feel the tension in his grip as he devoured her mouth.
Their groans blended with each sultry swipe of tongue.
The hand at her back dragged lower, curving over her ass in a heavy caress before catching hold of her thigh.
He lifted her leg to his hip and rocked against her as his teeth sank into her lower lip.
Lynnette couldn’t contain the breathy gasp that escaped her, or the way her nails dug into the back of his neck.
His fingers twisted tighter in her hair, pulling until delightful pinpricks of pain added more fuel to the fire in her blood.
“Lance,” she moaned as he broke completely from her lips and began trailing wet kisses over her jaw and down her throat.
He rumbled, but made no effort to remove his tongue from her skin.
And she liked that far too much.
Her brain was scrambled. No one had touched her the way he was in years.
She couldn’t remember clearly enough to be sure her previous experience even compared.
She wanted to feel more of him, yet at the same time a small part of her wanted to flee.
Her pitiful history would surely deter him. She didn’t want that.
She was sure of it, as certain as she was of the trail Lance was actively licking along her clavicle.
“Lance,” she said again, putting more intention into her voice.
He vibrated against her, his teeth grazed her skin, and he lifted his head.
His chest rose with a hard breath as he ran his tongue along his lower lip.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he rumbled. “Got a little carried away.” Without argument or instruction, he gently set her leg down, his touch lingering over her thigh before moving back to her hip.