Chapter 24
Peyton
I’d been telling myself ever since arriving in LA that I needed to prepare to move again and again.
But that stage in my life had to end. The jitters I’d felt on the call with the Boston policeman dissipated after March’s, no, Zane’s, assurances.
I knew it was time to fight instead of run, but that didn’t make it easier or less scary.
The whiff of Zane’s woodsy scent as I passed in front of him reminded me I couldn’t have a better man by my side for this. Zane was all man, a SEAL, a born protector. I stumbled exiting the room. I had left slightly buzzed behind in pursuit of something more.
Zane caught me before I made a fool of myself.
His arms around me felt so right, and that was not the alcohol talking. I might be beyond buzzed, but I was coherent enough to understand the desire that raced through me at his touch. It could only be quenched with a night in his bed, or mine, or on the rug, or in a tree. It didn’t matter where.
Okay, yeah, maybe I was a bit drunk if my mind had conjured up sex in a tree as the perfect place for our first time.
“Careful there, Angel,” Zane said as he released his hold on me, a move I was not in favor of. He took the wine glass I held. “I think you’ve had enough.”
I nodded. At this point, I couldn’t manage anything but the awful truth. “It’s been a hard day.”
“Of course,” Zane said, pulling me to his chest.
I burrowed into his warmth, his protection.
Every touch from Zane this evening telegraphed desire like I hadn’t known before, and at the same time, the prospect of safety and tranquility in the shitstorm that had become my life since I saw those peculiar eyes. “He’s out there,” I whispered hoarsely.
Zane spoke, his voice low and steady. “I’ve got you. We all do.” The slow stroke of his hand over my back comforted me.
Then Lucas’s voice boomed as he called the group together.
Zane held my hand as he towed me to the couch in the living room. As we sat, the thought of finally being alone with him for the better massage he’d promised earlier had my blood singing. I’d spent so much energy denying my attraction to him, and now that the dam had burst, I could hardly wait.
I’d gone from intending to never see Zane again to itching to be alone with him, skin to skin, seeing all of him, feeling all of him, giving myself completely to him and never leaving.
When he’d first brought me over here, he’d joked about me not being able to control myself around him, and that prophecy was coming true.
Glancing to my left, Duke had his arm lovingly around his fiancée, and looking to my right, Terry had an arm around Grace. I’d missed how consistently couples touched and held each other in simple reminders of their attachment.
Just then, Zane draped his arm behind me. Was our connection fated to grow like his teammates and their women? Zane’s support, physically and emotionally, made all the difference. It was incredible how much things had changed since this morning.
Closing my eyes, I sighed. Maybe it was looking death in the face today that had heightened my senses.
Okay, so it was only a quick glance through a pane of glass at the monster, but it had still scared me shitless.
And the fact remained that I’d become very attuned to the brush of Zane’s leg against mine in his office and now his arm around me.
How was it that such small touches carried an oversized promise of caring?
As the rest of the group joined us, I leaned into Zane’s warmth, noticing that Winston chose a spot next to Constance.
She glanced his way, but didn’t say anything.
Lucas’s commanding voice pulled me back to the present. “The Boston homicide unit is going to send somebody out with the full case file to help us locate this guy.”
Winston whistled. “That’s a big deal. Local cops don’t normally share like that.”
Duke nodded.
Winston held up a finger. “One more thing. I checked, and the Bureau has not gotten involved in the case.”
Jordy stopped tapping on his keyboard long enough to ask, “Isn’t that odd, given that it’s a serial killer?”
“If it doesn’t cross state lines, involve a federal official, or constitute a federal crime, they only get involved if requested by the locals,” Winston answered.
I wondered why they wouldn’t want the FBI’s help.
Jordy answered for me. “Egotistical jerks.”
Lucas glared at him. “We will treat them nicely. They have a lot of data we may need to catch this guy.”
I slid my hand onto Zane’s thigh and whispered in his ear, “Does Jordy always get in trouble with Lucas?”
He pulled my hand away and breathed into my hair. “I’m too new to know.” The feel of his breath on me sent a shiver down my spine. A lungful of his woodsy scent didn’t help either. And while concentrating on the Zane effect, I missed what Terry said.
“Good idea.” Lucas pointed back at Jordy again. “There’s a challenge for you.”
“I missed that. What challenge?” I whispered to Zane, allowing myself to look dumb.
“Finding out who took your backpack.”
“Can he do that?” I’d given up hope.
“If anybody can, it’s our guy.”
I nodded, feeling renewed hope that I could get my money back, and leaned into Zane again.
“Tired?” he asked.
It had been an exhausting day, more emotionally than anything else. “Yes and no. For once, I’m looking forward instead of back, and it feels pretty damned awesome.” And the way my body and mind were reacting to this man, I’d push through any amount of tiredness.
He rubbed my back again—definitely his thing and something I appreciated more every time.
“This isn’t the most secure location,” Lucas said. “So for tonight, one outside and two inside, counting Zane.”
Constance claimed inside guard duty before any of the guys could speak up, and Duke got assigned to the street.
“Isn’t this overkill?” I asked. “There’s only one of him.”
But Serena and Grace’s expressions said it all. I was nuts to complain about too many guards when a psycho was after me.
Lucas handled it gently. “He has already hired local muscle, so he might not be alone.”
I nodded and looked down, feeling small.
Zane gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep you safe.”
“Winston,” Lucas continued. “Better locks for this place tomorrow, and secure the door and windows.”
The big man nodded. “On it.”
“What does that mean?” I asked Zane.
Lucas heard me. “A more solid door and bars on the windows. It may seem extreme, but it’s better to have protection you don’t use than be short an item that could have prevented a breach.”
I sucked in a breath and vowed to stay quiet next time. Breach sounded more like bad guys storming a fort than entering Zane’s cute house.
Lucas pivoted. “Jordy, let’s upgrade the alarm system to the max.”
Jordy’s typing didn’t slow one bit. “Copy that. I have one more thing.”
Lucas waited.
The rest of us looked over.
Jordy adjusted the screen of his laptop. “One of the new bloggers following the Strangler case has suggested that there is a second criminal involved, and the police are keeping it a secret. Two of the cases have slight differences from the others.”
“A copycat?” Duke asked.
The tech guy kept typing. “That’s the implication. The third and the fourth.”
“A murder and rape club,” Winston scoffed. “Peachy.”
Lucas shook his head. “Anything more than that one opinion from the web?”
Jordy shook his head. “Not on that, but another guy noticed something else that the cops haven’t said and the newspaper types didn’t catch—victims of serial killers are generally single women, but this guy is an equal opportunity asshole and includes married women.”
Lucas scowled. “We’ll wait to see what the case file says. Until then, nothing changes.”
Zane’s hand stroked down my arm and back up to my shoulder. I settled into the couch cushions and closed my eyes to listen.
Sometime later, Zane shook my shoulder. “Wake up, sleepyhead. We’re done.”
Blinking my eyes open, I realized I must have nodded off. Terry and Grace were up out of their seats. I heard Lucas’s voice from the kitchen. Winston was looking over Jordy’s shoulder at his screen.
Serena smiled at me from across the coffee table. She was alone.
“Where’s Duke?” The couch cushions tried to suck me back down as I struggled to sit up.
“Already outside,” she said as she stood.
“What did I miss?”
Zane’s hand slid down my back. “Nothing important, Angel.”
I had no right to be anybody’s angel, but once again, this man’s words turned my insides to mush. Leaning farther forward, I got to my feet. As I did, the room seemed to sway slightly, but a quick hand to the coffee table prevented a stumble.
“You should lie down and call it a night.”
Zane’s deep, suggestive voice had my thoughts going to much more than a peaceful night’s sleep between the sheets. Looking over, I nodded. “And I think you should lie down.”
How could I have ever been stupid enough to think I should run from him? Right now, the only thing my brain could compute was that it would take me less than a minute to strip his clothes off and be riding him once the door closed behind us.
“I have to talk to Lucas,” he said as he took my hand. “But first, I’ll get you settled.”
“Okay,” Serena said, breaking the spell. “While you two negotiate positions, I’m going to go home…alone.” She emphasized the last word.
“Two knocks,” Constance mumbled, whatever that meant.
Zane nodded and took me down the hall. He stopped us at the guest room I’d slept in last night.
“I don’t need anything from here for tonight.” No. I planned on sleeping naked with my man after the fun part, when we got to the sleeping part.
But he turned the knob and opened the door anyway. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” He pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead.
I wrapped my arms around him and plastered my body to his, tightly enough that I could feel the bulge that said he wanted me the same way I wanted him.
The wine gave me the courage to say it plainly, in a way I never had.
“I want you.” Fortunately, I spoke the words softly enough that the others couldn’t hear.
He took my shoulders and created space between us. “I won’t take advantage of you when you’re drunk.”
“I’ve only had—”
He cut off my rant with a finger to my lips. “Listen to me, Angel.”
Tears began to form as I looked up into his eyes. I was damned tempted to bite his finger.
“I want you too, but it’s a rule I won’t break. Do you understand me?”
“No,” I said, pulling back from the finger that had silenced me. “I know what I want and who I want it from, and that’s you. Do I need to put it in writing? I want you to—”
His lips crashed down on mine before I could get graphic about what I wanted him to do, and I was in a mood to be very graphic.
The kiss grew intense. I closed my eyes and let myself just feel and be taken on the ride he provided. I had no complaints about a hand closing around my breast or the other one squeezing my ass and pulling me against his obvious erection.
Now we were getting somewhere. He tasted like sin personified as I imagined this talented mouth on me in lots of other places.
Then he broke the kiss. “Rules are rules.” He pushed me through the doorway. “When I first have you, you are going to be sober. Goodnight, Angel.”
When the door closed, I had half a mind to storm out and yell at him for being so hardheaded. Did I need to sign a freaking contract? I settled for stomping my feet. The man had strong morals, and that was both infuriating and incredibly attractive.
Damn him. He wasn’t taking advantage of me if I was asking to be taken to bed.
That made perfect sense, but it clearly wasn’t an argument I could win tonight.
I spun toward the bureau where I stashed my sleep shorts.
The room swam again, and I stumbled against the bed, hitting my shin against the wooden frame. “Fuck.”
Holding my injured shin until the pain subsided, I decided I’d give him this one, even if it was stupid. I was drunker than I had been in a while.
When I limped to the bureau, I found my revenge under my stack of panties and pulled out the toy.
If Zane wasn’t going to satisfy me tonight, I’d have to fantasize about how it could have been.