One bullet left… The asshole just shot Nathan…
I was going to have to fire left-handed. My right was mangled by glass and practically useless. I didn’t have time to think o
r strategize. I had to pull the trigger. Now.
I pressed my right hand up under the stock to steady it, ignoring the white-hot agony that flooded all the way into my shoulder. Then I blew out a breath and pulled the trigger, my eyes never leaving Francis’ baby blues, not even for a second.
That was how I knew how this would end: when I saw how surprised he looked.
The gun clattered onto the asphalt as Francis went down from a neat entrance wound to the chest. I dropped my own gun as I fell next to Nathan’s body, my hands clawing at his shirt and ignoring all the pain that was shooting from my palm.
“Sandra,” Nathan coughed, opening his eyes. “You’re bleeding. Are you okay?”
I nodded as I stared at him, tugging at his shirt. The dark vest peeked out from under his stylish button-up. “Oh, thank God…” I whispered. “You idiot. You colossal idiot…”
“You know, nobody tells you how fucking bad it hurts to get shot in one of these things.”
“What if he shot you in the head?” I replied, tears pouring out of my eyes.
“Would you still love me if I wasn’t quite as beautiful?” Nathan replied, offering up a faint smile.
I nodded mutely, meeting his gaze. “I saved you,” I whispered. It was the only thing I could think of, the only thing I knew to say.
As sirens approached form around the corner, Nathan grinned. He nodded and pulled me into his arms.
“I owe you one,” he replied, holding onto me as I swayed in shock.
The cavalry was here. I could see the blue and red lights flashing around us, hear the squeals of ambulances and the steady beating of a chopper above us.
None of it compared to the comfort Nathan’s arms brought me. We held each other, and the world fell away.
CHAPTER NINE
“Detective… You’re a mess.”
I shook my head at Nathan, stepping into his hotel room as he closed the door behind me. A pair of private security guards stood in the hall to hold vigil. He wasn’t completely wrong. The first shot fired had grazed my cheek, cutting a line shallow enough not to leave much of a scar, but deep enough to make me bleed all over the damn place. Forty-six stitches later my face was covered in enough bandage to start the mummification process. Thankfully, my hand was in better condition than I expected. There was still enough pulverized safety glass that a doctor had to spend a few hours with patience and a pair of tweezers, but thankfully, most of the damage was superficial.
It had taken days to convince the hospital to release me, but the hassle had been well worth it. I had no intention of staying there when I could be standing in Nathan’s hotel room instead.
My work wasn’t over. There was still something that had to be done, and I was the only one who could do it.
“You are a pain in my ass,” I told him, shaking my head as I looked him over. There wasn’t a scratch on him, but I could tell he was still shaken. And who wouldn’t be? We’d been through hell together. “I’m so glad I’m off your case.”
“Off my case?” he echoed, raising an eyebrow. “So you won’t be at the trial?”
The attempted kidnapping and assassination had caused the entire trial date to be pushed back a few days, but I had every intention of being there. Nathan still needed me.
“Oh, I’ll be there,” I corrected him. “Just in a support capacity. Don’t want you falling off the wagon now that your life’s not endangered anymore. I need to make sure you do the right thing.”
“Right,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked me over. “That’s what you came here for? To tell me you’re off the case and insult my morality?”
“Well, that,” I answered, suppressing a grin, “and to tell you something else, too. I wanted to say thank you for what you did back there. It was stupid, but it was damn brave, too. I don’t know what would’ve happened to either of us if you hadn’t given me that shot.”
Nathan half-smiled. “I wasn’t about to let you take the heat for me,” he said. “You were right about me, Detective. I haven’t been taking this seriously...”
I nodded. “You’re damn right. But you taught me something, too: people can change, if they want it bad enough. You just have to let them.”
“And all it takes is a few bullets to the chest? Next time, maybe we can pick an easier way to teach me a lesson…”
I laughed, turning my back on him to study the hotel room. It was much nicer than the one we’d shared at the Peachtree Overlook, with a completely separate bedroom with what looked like a queen-sized bed. I bit my lip as I set eyes on it.
“I’ve been wrong about you...”
I lifted my fingers to my blouse, wincing as I began undoing the buttons at the top. I turned back around to face him just as I revealed the lace and silk cups of my bra.
“But you’re the only good surprise I’ve had in a long damn time, Nathaniel Hale. And I came here to tell you I’m off the case, which means that I no longer have an obligation to keep my professional distance from you. We can make things as personal as you’d like.”
Nathan looked at me, watching me struggle to maneuver my fingers in a way that didn’t hurt. He took a step toward me, gently clasping his hands over mine and drawing them away from my blouse as he stared deep into my eyes.
“Oh, I’d like them pretty damn personal,” he growled, that familiar smolder returning to his jade green eyes.
“Good, because this box of condoms cost a small fortune, and I’m still intent on getting my money’s worth,” I replied as he captured my lips with his.
I moaned into his mouth, encircling his neck in my arms as he crushed me against his chest, lifting me from the floor to envelop me completely. I’d never had a man devour me like this, his mouth closing over mine again and again almost violently, with such a heat and passion that it made me weak in the knees.
I wrapped my legs around his strong waist, feeling his hands slip down my hips and to my ass, where he gripped me tightly as he made quick strides toward his bed. I threw back my head as his lips moved to my neck, nipping and sucking down to my collarbone as he placed me on my back. Heat flushed through me, a consuming flame, one I hoped would leave nothing but ash in its wake.
I needed Nathan. I needed him to devour me. I needed him to take me until there was nothing left. I had never needed anyone so goddamn badly before.
“Thank God for you,” he whispered, working through the rest of my buttons until I was completely exposed. He looked at me with such reverence that it took my breath away. “Goddammit, Sandra. Thank you.”
I didn’t know what to say in reply. I only shrugged my shoulders out of the straps of my bra, letting them fall down my arms as Nathan unhooked the clasp at the back. I arched to make way for his fingers and felt the fabric slip away from me, my light pink nipples stiffening in the cool air between us.
He lowered his head instantly, closing his lips around one of them and lovingly tracing it with his tongue. I closed my eyes, shuddering as he caressed me, his hands tugging at my pants until he pulled them off over my toes and deposited them on the bedroom floor.
This was what I had been waiting for. This was what I had been craving ever since Nathan ended up back in my life. I felt truly naked before him, utterly vulnerable to this man as he peeled away my layers to reach my center and make me his. This time when he took me, he’d be coming away with a lot more than just my virginity or a quick and fun little fuck. He’d come away with my heart and anything else I had to give him.
My underwear was next. Nathan knelt in front of me, kissing between the valley of my breasts and over my stomach, making me quiver with delight until he made it to my waistband, which he promptly took between his teeth. He looked up at me with a hungry gaze as he slid my panties off my thighs at an excruciatingly slow pace, revealing my shaven mound already glistening with desire for him.
When my panties hit the floor, Nathan moved back between my legs, nudging my thighs apart to nuzzle and kiss over my pussy. I shuddered and tugged at
his hair with my good hand, my toes curling as his tongue parted my folds and laved hungrily at my swollen, throbbing clit.
I could feel the pleasure rolling over me in strong waves, sweeping me into a blissful oblivion as he lapped at my needy cunt. The way Nathan touched me made my body sing, made my very blood cry out for more. Fucking him was a full body experience that even my nerves got in on, each one firing with joy as he relentlessly tongued me. He lifted my legs over his shoulders, letting me clench his head between my thighs as he sucked at me, making my eyes roll back into my skull.
“Fuck!” I whispered, knowing that I couldn’t be too loud. There were still his security guards right outside the doors, and even if I was off Nathan’s case officially, I still didn’t want them to hear what was happening in here. People talked…