Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The dampers were almost overloaded, even while she slept. Until she learned how to keep herself shielded, a tracker would have no problem latching on. Even a low-grade dowser might be able to find her.
How had she survived with no training, no shielding? And how had she escaped notice for this long?
Delgado crouched beside the bed, watching her face as she breathed deeply, her lips slightly parted and her cheeks flushed. She still wore his sweater, one arm tucked underneath her pillow, the other flung out, her hand resting on the white sheet.
He rested his own fingers on the sheet, wondering if he dared to touch her. Would she wake up?
If she did…
His fingers hovered so close to hers, he could feel the heat of her skin.
She was exhausted. Shocked, numb. He didn’t blame her.
A real kick to the gut to have her entire world yanked away in the space of twelve hours.
Delgado was just lucky she hadn’t decided he was the enemy.
She might have tried to escape and been scooped up by the cops—and Sigma would extradite her, pretty as you please.
She wouldn’t even know she’d been caught until it was too late.
And then he’d have to go into an installation and find her, probably, and that might kill him.
Just a little push. Just to keep her here. What do you say, Del? Just a small one.
If he did, and she realized…
No. He couldn’t.
The temptation was well-nigh irresistible.
He touched her.
Her skin was soft, and her breathing didn’t alter. But the electric feel of her raced up his arm, down his chest, and wrapped his body in soft heat. His pulse pounded in his ears.
His callused fingertips rested against the back of her hand. He stroked her wrist once, marveling at the satiny texture of her skin. She was so fucking perfect, it made his entire chest go tight with something he had never even thought possible. She was beautiful.
“I’ll take care of you,” he promised, whispering so he didn’t wake her. “Just trust me. Okay?”
Of course she couldn’t reply. She was asleep.
Think about something else, anything else.
The motel was a risk, but she needed sleep and comfort, and he needed a few hours of rest himself. Their clothes were washed and dry and folded, packed in the suitcases. He was hoping she’d wear the jeans and the pretty black boots tomorrow. He was betting her legs would look even longer.
That was the wrong thing to think. He took a deep breath. He needed rest, and it was late already. He’d set up a perimeter. If anyone from Sig came close, he’d know. It had taken concentration and energy, two things he would have less of if he didn’t get some sleep.
In a few minutes, maybe. Once he got enough of the feel of her skin under his.
He crouched there, watching her sleep for another half-hour. Then her eyelids fluttered in REM, and she made a soft sound of distress. She moved, and Delgado froze.
She turned onto her back, her chin tipped up, her pale hair unraveling over the pillow. He had a sudden flash of wrapping his fingers in that hair and had to close his eyes.
I’m not doing this right. Who the hell do I think I am, some kind of nice guy? They’ll kill her if they take her—leave her a Zed-shattered hulk with a handler who might… might…
He didn’t want to think about the handlers. He didn’t ever want to think about the handlers again.
So what am I going to do?
He didn’t have a choice. He kept turning the problem over and over inside his head, but the answer was always the same. He didn’t have a fucking choice.
The good thing was, the situation was perfect. She’d just been traumatized, and she would cling to him before long. He would have plenty of time afterward to help her heal. But for right now, the closer he could get to Rowan Price, the safer she would be from Sigma.
Also, the closer he got to her, the higher the risk she would find out he was manipulating her. And he didn’t think she’d take kindly to that.
Not kindly at all.
It wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t so goddamn fascinated with her.
He’d be able to keep a corner of himself reserved, evaluating, watching, moving from square to square in the game.
The trouble was, he wanted her—badly. He didn’t want to hide anything.
If she turned those huge eyes on him and bit her lower lip in that absolutely charming way, he had the uncomfortable feeling he would be…
well, helpless. And if she ever let him into her life, really into her life, he would never want to leave.
What would happen once they reached Headquarters and she found out he was a monster?
Cross that bridge when we come to it. For right now, get some goddamn sleep, Delgado. Quit second-guessing yourself. Play it by the book and keep her right next to you for as long as you can.
It was another ten minutes or so before he could tear himself away.
He dropped down gratefully onto the other bed.
Hearing her breathe quietly in the silence of a motel room, he fell into deep sleep, one corner of his mind monitoring the security perimeter.
But right before he fell asleep it occurred to him that he was actually happy she was with him, and that she had nobody else to turn to.
And that proved he was not a very nice guy.