Chapter Ten
Six hours after she’d fallen asleep in an exhausted heap in the car, Bree was about to fade into oblivion again. But this time it was because Tanner was currently standing behind her in the large hotel shower and was washing her hair.
“You fading on me again, freckles?”
“Can you blame me this time?” She couldn’t stop her little moan as he rubbed his fingers more deeply into her scalp.
He reached down and kissed her shoulder. “I didn’t blame you last time. You needed it. We caught Elliot Webster because of you.”
She shrugged. “It was a team effort. But yeah, mostly me.”
He chuckled and kissed her shoulder again.
“Do you think Jean is going to be okay?” she asked.
Tanner pulled her back under the spray of the water. “Physically, yes. We got to her before any real damage could be done by the water. She’s at the hospital, mostly for observation.”
“But emotionally?”
He cupped his hand over her forehead so no soap would run into her eyes and tilted her head back. “It’s hard to know exactly what sort of emotional scars this leaves on a person. I daresay she might not take a bath for the rest of her life.”
Bree wouldn’t blame her. “But she’s alive—that’s the most important thing.”
“Absolutely. Always the most important thing.”
They finished rinsing and stepped out of the shower.
She peeked over at him as she dried off her face, trying not to stare at his abs. Was it ridiculous that she still couldn’t get enough of looking at his body even after all these months? She finally tore her eyes away. “Did Elliot Webster admit to killing Whitaker’s friend and the other lady?”
Tanner dried off that sexy chest, then wrapped his towel low around his hips. “Not that I’ve heard. I’m sure Whitaker will keep us posted, but as far as I know, Elliot hasn’t talked at all.”
“I guess that doesn’t serve his best interests to admit to multiple murders.”
“Speaking of multiple murders, you going to be okay with the whole Jeter situation?” Tanner leaned back against the vanity counter and grabbed both edges of her towel, pulling her up against him.
She sighed and leaned against him. “Honestly, I’m just trying not to think about it.
I’m definitely relieved about not having to testify.
And I had never really thought about his sentencing.
But I don’t guess I can blame him for working out a deal where he can’t get the death penalty.
And I can’t blame the prosecuting attorneys for wanting to get this over with as quickly and inexpensively as possible. ”
“But?”
She shrugged. “I guess it just all seems too easy.”
“Sometimes people take the easy way out when they don’t have better options.”
“Yeah, I know. But I think maybe I mean it was too easy for me.”
Tanner pulled her in closer to his chest and she breathed in the warm, wet, male scent of him. “Nothing about the situation with Jeter has ever been easy for you.”
“Maybe it was that I had accepted that I was going to have to face him when I testify, even though I was scared. I was finally going to look him in the eye and make people understand what a monster he is, not only for the terrorist stuff he did, but for what he did to me. Although, I guess in the greater scheme of things that’s really not what’s important. ”
His fingers came up to comb gently through her wet hair.
“He had all the power when you were a child. He did unspeakable things to you—you’ve got the physical and mental scars to prove it.
It’s more than understandable to want to finally take some of that power back.
To look him in the eye and make him know that he holds nothing over you now. ”
“Yes.” All that. Tanner understood. He always understood, even when she didn’t.
“I’m sorry you don’t get to have that. You deserve it.”
“No. The important thing is that Jeter is going to jail for the rest of his life. He’s not going to have control over anything, especially me.” She squeezed him again, realizing how much she meant it.
They walked into the bedroom together. Bree smothered a yawn. She didn’t want Tanner to think she was too tired to utilize the lovely-looking king-size bed here in the hotel. He got so overprotective when she did stuff like pass out from exhaustion.
But at least he was watching her as she dropped the towel to the ground and slipped under the sheets naked. “So, I guess our part is done here since Elliot is in custody.”
“Yeah, Penelope will take over now.”
“Perfect Penelope.” Bree knew she was sulking, being ridiculous, but couldn’t help it. She didn’t even like to hear the woman’s name.
Tanner climbed in bed beside her. “Not perfect, but I was pretty impressed with how she’s handled this entire investigation. It’s a lot of pressure and she seemed to manage her people pretty well.”
“And she also happens to be blonde and gorgeous.”
“Why, Miss Daniels, I do believe you sound a little bit jealous.”
“What could there possibly be to be jealous of? The woman is smart, has a career in law enforcement, could be mistaken for a supermodel and is attracted to you.”
Before she even knew what was happening, Bree found herself rolled over and tucked under Tanner’s big, naked body.
“There’s only one person I’m interested in, and she very fortunately happens to be in this bed with me.”
Bree’s eyes drifted closed, her breath hissing slowly out of her as his mouth found her neck and began nibbling down the side of it. This man had taught her everything she knew about pleasure. Everything she knew about trust. Everything she knew about love.
“I’m sorry for what I said at the ranch.” Before they made love again she wanted to make sure the air was cleared from that. “I know I said something wrong and it hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Tanner shifted his weight onto his elbows and looked down into her eyes. “We’ve got some stuff to work out, that’s for sure. Things we need to sit down and talk honestly about—plans. What we both want now, and what we both want going into the future.”
“I want you.”
That handsome face broke into a grin. “Good, because I want you too. And as long as were committed to each other—”
“—and no blonde, gorgeous detectives—”
He kissed her. “—that’s all that we need to know for sure right now.”
“Then kiss me, Captain Hot Lips, and let’s not let this gorgeous hotel suite go to waste.”
“Oh, I’m going to do a lot more than kiss you.”
All she could do was hold on to him as he did.
A LOUD BANGING on the hotel door jerked Tanner completely awake. He immediately reached for his Glock on the bedside table, quickly getting his bearings.
Bree rolled over in the bed, muttering, “Want to sleep.”
The pounding on the door came again. Tanner slipped on his boxers and glanced at his phone. It was 4:30 a.m. He cursed when he saw he’d missed a dozen messages from Whitaker, since his phone had been on silent so Bree could get some sleep.
Sure enough when he looked out the hotel door security hole, there was Whitaker.
Tanner opened the door. “You do know it’s four thirty in the morning, right?”
Whitaker didn’t crack a smile. “We need you and Bree back at the station right away. We’ve got a situation.”
Tanner left the door open for Whitaker to enter and grabbed his jeans from the bathroom, slipping them on. “Are you sure she has to come with us? She’s still pretty wiped from yesterday.”
Whitaker shook his head grimly. “Yes, unfortunately we need her more than we even need you. We just received more footage.”
Shock shot through Tanner’s body. “What? I don’t understand. Could it have been previously recorded?”
Whitaker shrugged. “It doesn’t look like it, but let’s hope so.”
“Did Elliot Webster have a second victim somewhere? A partner?”
“We’re trying to figure out exactly what is going on. Jeremy is still in the hospital because of his burns, and Penelope is hesitant to bring an unknown person into the case at this point. So Bree is the best option.”
“What’s going on?” Bree said from the bed, sitting up and holding the sheet pulled up to her body.
“I’ll wait outside.” Whitaker immediately turned and walked out the door.
Tanner walked over to the bed. “We’ve got a problem, freckles. More footage arrived at the station. With Jeremy at the hospital they need you to authenticate it and let us know what is going on—whether it’s old or new.”
She stretched like a sleepy kitten, then rubbed her eyes.
He should’ve let her sleep last night instead of keeping them both awake half the night.
But neither of them had seemed to be able to get enough of each other.
It was like both of them wanted to resolidify whatever parts had become shaky over the last few days.
And they had. Their bond was 100 percent secure. They still needed to work out the details about what their always was going to look like, but that was all it was: details. That ring was still in his jacket pocket. As soon as the time was right he was going to slip it on her finger.
He tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “You go hop in the shower. I’ll get us some coffee. It’s time to go back to work.”