Fatal, page 10
“They pay too much attention.”
“That’s what it’s like at places like this. Part of the appeal.”
“I wasn’t expecting him to remember my name.”
“Have you never stayed at a place like this?”
Adam shook his head. He took a sip of his coffee and reached for Raina’s hand. He wound their fingers together. “We need to keep up appearances, even when we think they aren’t watching.”
Raina nodded and tried not to let the ruse get to her. She knew what she was getting into. Just because she had a crush on her protector, and felt like she’d been lit on fire when she kissed him, didn’t mean anything.
Tom brought their breakfast back out after a little while, and they ate while talking about pretend plans for the day. The only thing they really had to do was get in touch with the team and make sure there was no chatter about their location.
Raina groaned at her first bite of her pancake. It was perfectly fluffy and loaded with chocolate chips. The buttery flavor and sprinkle of powdered sugar on top were delicious.
“Good?” Adam asked, his voice strangled and strained.
Raina looked up at him. His gaze was on her lips. She licked, catching a smear of chocolate.
He shifted in his seat and swore under his breath.
“You okay?”
“Not even a little bit. How’s your food?”
“Amazing. How’s yours?”
He cut off a piece of his waffle and popped it into his mouth. He nodded, then groaned the same way she had.
It was her turn to stare. His tongue darted out to lick a droplet of butter trying to race down his chin. He chewed and nodded, then swallowed and met her gaze.
They locked eyes. Raina wondered how in the hell breakfast was sexy, but at that moment, it was.
“How is everything?” Tom asked, breaking into their private moment.
“Excellent,” Adam said without looking up from Raina.
“Great to hear. Enjoy.” Tom walked away. Whispers from the kitchen were answered by Tom’s sharp reply that Raina couldn’t hear but understood clearly.
Don’t interrupt.
Raina stabbed another bite of her pancake and lifted it over the center of the table, silently offering it to Adam.
He looked from the fork to Raina, then leaned in and claimed the bite she offered. He groaned again, then offered her a bite of his waffle.
Raina leaned forward, her gaze locked on Adam’s as she closed her lips over her fork. His gaze dropped to mouth, then slid back to her eyes.
The bright blue of his eyes was navy, dilated with desire.
Raina shifted in her seat, feeling that desire between her thighs.
They ate silently, sharing their food and devouring it quickly. As one, they rose from the table and hurried toward the stairs, anxious to disappear.
“Are you doing any exploring today?” Norma asked before they were able to escape to the room she gave them. The room designed for sex. The room she was currently keeping them from.
“Later,” Adam growled.
“There’s a lot to do around here. If you want some ideas, feel free to ask us. We’d be happy to point you in the right direction of whatever suits your fancy.”
Adam stopped, his foot hovering over the bottom step. Raina jerked to a halt next to him, her hand locked in his.
His eyes were closed. His body was rigid. Tension filled the lines of his face.
“Thank you,” Adam said softly. “We should probably take advantage of that now. See the area while it’s nice out. It’s supposed to snow later, right?”
Norma nodded when they turned to her. “It is. We’re expecting a storm later that’ll likely shut down some of the roads in the area. But they’ll be back open by morning. It’s only about two feet of snow.”
“Thank you,” Adam said, releasing the grip he had on Raina’s hand. “What would you suggest we do today?”
Raina gawked at her fake husband and wondered why in the hell he was talking about craft fairs and lunch spots when he could have been giving them both orgasms.
Adam was in a shitty mood. He was seconds away from burying himself in Raina and forgetting about the outside world. Then Norma said suits your fancy. Adam’s mom used the phrase. She would have been horrified he was going to take advantage of Raina when she was scared and vulnerable and counting on him to be there for her.
He was ashamed of himself. And that shame put him in a shitty mood.
Which meant Raina was in a shitty mood, too. Because he was back to being an asshole to her.
They wandered through the craft fair Norma mentioned, picking up a few things to keep up appearances. Adam paid cash for everything, smiling at Raina when she held up the most hideous thing at every stand. She was testing him or something, but Adam couldn’t scrounge up any emotion.
They left the craft fair with far more crap than they should have bought. Raina was still angry. Adam was still beating himself up. He could deal with her anger. It was better that she was mad at him for doing the right thing than mad at him for being an asshole.
After the craft fair, Adam drove to a parking lot for a scenic overlook and pulled into a spot near a snow-covered trail he had no intention of walking.
“What are we doing here?” Raina snapped.
“We need to check in.” Adam turned the borrowed phone on and dialed F-BOMB, hoping Liam was the one who answered.
“Hello, newlyweds. How’s it going?” Liam’s voice held a grin.
“Great. What’s the news?” Adam wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
“Are you safe?” Liam asked, his tone raising the small hairs on the back of Adam’s neck. Whether he picked up on Adam’s tension or something was wrong, Liam was worried.
Which meant Adam was worried. He looked out the windows and around the entire car, double checking they were completely alone. “Yes. Why?”
“I’m guessing you already saw the news.”
Adam and Raina exchanged a glance. His was coupled with a scowl, hers paired with a tremor. “What happened?”
“The judge is missing.”
“What?” Adam barked.
“Okay, I guess you didn’t know. The judge is gone. Hasn’t been seen since the day he dropped all charges against Street.”
“Fuck,” Adam groaned.
“Yeah, pretty much what we’re all thinking. We found video of him leaving the courthouse, then he vanishes in the city. Never returned to his house.”
“Family?”
“None,” Liam said. “Ex-wife is remarried and hasn’t spoken to him in decades. No contact at all. Seemed as though he didn’t have much of a life.”
“So where is he?”
“No clue. We’re looking, but the assumption at this point is Street made him disappear so he couldn’t be questioned about dropping everything.”
“Is the FBI involved?”
“Yeah. Street is a person of interest, but they have no proof he’s involved so there’s no warrant. All the judge’s cases are being investigated. It’s only a matter of time before warrants are issued for Street again. The charges being dropped by a corrupt judge means no new evidence needs to show up for the warrants to come back out.”
“Just need to find him again.”
“There’s that,” Liam said.
“No bail this time.”
“Agreed. Dunn’s been working on that and sharing all the video and other information we have on Street. As long as we get a fair judge, it’ll be an easy one.”
“They might need protective custody.”
“Yeah, we’re working with a private security firm to handle that.”
“Good. So, where does that leave us?” Adam asked with a glance toward Raina. As much as he hated the idea of going back, staying wasn’t good either.
“Nothing changes. Keep moving every few days. Pretend you’re in love. Play the roles.”
Raina snorted, looking out the window instead of at Adam.
“What was that?” Liam asked.
“Nothing,” Adam said.
“If someone thinks something’s up with you two, Street will find you. You can’t fuck this up.”
“I know,” Adam snapped. He ran a hand over his head, willing the pounding headache he’d had all day to stop. He was still healing from Street knocking him out two weeks ago. Now he was pretending to be in love with the woman he was secretly falling in love with, and wanting to kick his own ass every time he thought about touching her.
“Obviously you made it to wherever you are safely. Decent place?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Adam said with zero emotion.
“Okay. Good. Listen. Stay safe. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. If this place is getting too nosy, move on.”
“We will,” Adam said. “One more night.”
“Sounds good. Make sure you check that phone at least once a day. Call every other day at least. Let us know what’s going on. You can leave it on, too, just make sure you’re checking in regularly.”
“Got it.”
“Adam.”
“What?” His frustration rang through in his voice, something Adam couldn’t control.
“I love you. Be careful. Take care of Raina.”
“I love you, too. Hi to Caitlyn. We’ll be in touch.”
“Yep.”
Adam hung up and closed his eyes. Liam was worried. For him to say he loved Adam meant he was worried he might not get the chance to say it again.
Which was why Adam didn’t want to go on the crazy fucking trip in the first place. They should have stayed put. Where there were more people to watch Raina. Instead, she was in even more danger with just Adam as her personal protector.
“Are you okay?” Raina asked.
Adam shook his head slowly, lights exploding behind his eyes with each move.
“Your head hurts. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have driven. Or we could have had a quiet day.”
Adam snorted. “If we ended up back in that bedroom, we both know it would not have been quiet.”
Raina sucked in a shocked gasp.
Adam realized what he said and swore. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine.”
Great. She was pissed at him. Again. Which meant it was time to go. And time to stop fucking talking.
He drove them back to the B&B, convincing Raina to leave their purchases in the back of the vehicle since they were checking out in the morning, anyway. He hurried her up to their room instead of letting them get caught by Norma again.
Adam sank into the chair in the corner of the room and put his head in his hands. His head throbbed. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he needed some of his meds first. As soon as he worked up the energy to get them.
“Here,” Raina said softly.
Adam looked up and found her in front of him with a glass of water and two of his pills. Adam swallowed the pills dry, then drained the glass of water. “Thanks.”
Raina took the glass back and returned it to the bathroom. She settled on the bed and turned on her side, away from him.
Adam wanted to say something to make it all okay, but he didn’t know what to say. He knew he was giving her mixed signals. It wasn’t fair to her.
“I’m sorry about today,” he said after a minute, when the meds started to kick in and the throbbing reduced to a pulsing.
“For treating me like I was nothing or for ignoring me or maybe for telling me we would have had sex after you practically shoved me out the door? Because all you have to do is tell me you’re not interested. Just because I thought I felt something when we kissed doesn’t mean it was real. Or that it was mutual.”
She said all of that without moving, her back to him.
Adam hated not looking into her eyes. He hated not being able to see her when he said what he needed to say. He forced himself up, but the room spun. He dropped to his knees and crawled over to her, kneeling in front of her next to the bed.
“For all of it,” he said. “For wanting you badly enough that I was willing to sleep with you without thinking about how vulnerable you are. For shoving you out the door and acting like an ass because I feel guilty for wanting you. And yeah, for admitting I wanted you. Then and now. Because you deserve better than a cheesy B&B with a man pretending to be your husband. You deserve romance and fancy dinners and seduction.”
Raina snorted. “You don’t have to say things like that. I told you to just tell me you’re not interested.”
Adam cupped her jaw and leaned forward. He stopped when he was a breath away from her.
She finally opened her eyes. They were shiny with unshed tears and apprehension he knew he had put there.
“The number one rule is don’t sleep with the witness. Getting involved would be a bad idea. I’m not saying that because I don’t want you. I’m saying that because I do. I’ve been an asshole because I let my guard slip, then hate myself for it.”
“Why would you hate yourself?”
“Have you been with anyone since Street?”
She nibbled her lower lip and shook her head.
“You should have a chance to fall in love with someone good. Someone who deserves you.”
“What if I never get that chance? What if I’m never free?”
Adam closed his eyes against her fear. He knew what she was asking. And answering the question was going to take something from him.
But she deserved the truth.
“I’m not going to let that happen,” he said softly, firmly. “I’m going to kill Street if he gets anywhere close to you.”
“I know it’s your job—”
“No, Raina. You don’t understand. If I see him, I’m going to kill him.”
11
Raina had never seen that look on Adam’s face. Ferocious. Angry. Protective.
It should have scared her when he said he was going to kill Damon. It should have upset her. He was telling her he intended to commit murder. Premeditated would be thrown around if he told anyone.
But the bright blue eyes she stared into weren’t evil. Adam wasn’t evil. He was doing it for her. He was willing to risk his entire life, his career, his future, to protect her.
“Adam,” she breathed.
He shook his head, then winced. “You deserve better than this. Better than being stuck with me and wondering if you’ll live long enough to meet a man worthy of you.”
“What if I already have?”
“Raina.” He sighed heavily.
She exhaled a laugh. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Or what’s going to happen when all of this is over. I used to be a planner. There were things I wanted in my life. But right now, all I want is for you to kiss me.”
He stared into her eyes long enough that she grew uncomfortable. The hope inside her faded, and she withdrew, moving to roll away from him.
He caught her wrist before she could turn over. She fought him, but he held firm. “Please. I know I shouldn’t, but…”
She looked at him, the war behind his eyes visible for a second before he closed his eyes and shut himself off from her.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Raina. I don’t want to lose focus and lose you.”
“You won’t.” Her words didn’t waver, and neither did she. She trusted him with her life, and she ached to trust him with her body. The last man she was with was Damon. She wanted to change that for months, to remember the feel of someone else against her skin. She could have slept with anyone. She could have gone to a bar and picked up any number of men before she went into hiding. That never held the appeal that being with Adam did.
Adam tugged her wrist, encouraging her to roll toward him again. He brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. He kissed her cheek right in front of her ear, lingering with his lips pressed to her skin. Then he kissed her forehead. Then her eyelids.
Raina stopped breathing, waiting for Adam to decide if he was going to press his lips to hers. He continued the achingly sweet kisses around her face. When she tilted her chin up, he inhaled a breath and sealed his lips over hers.
For a second, they were both still. Adam groaned softly in his throat and licked her lips. She opened for him instantly, her lips parting before he even asked permission. He growled, a low sound of approval and desire, and claimed her mouth like she’d never been kissed.
His fingers tightened against the back of her neck, bringing her closer to his kiss. His tongue thrust in and out of her mouth, tantalizing her with the possessive kiss that wasn’t about fooling anyone and all about giving her exactly what she wanted.
Raina lifted her hand and grabbed his wrist, needing to feel the warmth of his skin against hers. He started to pull back, but she held tighter, silently letting him know she didn’t want him to stop.
He sighed, his breath fanning across her cheek. He gentled the kiss, easing the force of his tongue and pulling back with reluctant kisses. He kissed her forehead, then sank to sit next to the bed. He groaned.
“Shit. Your head. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, groaning again. “No. I’m sorry.”
“You should lie down.”
“Yeah,” he said, letting go of her and sliding to the floor.
“Get in the bed. You can’t sleep on the floor again.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Then do it for me. If you sleep in the bed, I’ll feel safer.”
“Are you just saying that?”
“Does it matter?”
He was silent for a few seconds. “The way I feel right now, no, I don’t think it does. Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please.”
He took his time getting back to a seated position, then onto his knees so he could crawl onto the bed. He climbed on right where Raina was, nudging her over so he was on the side closer to the door.
He winced when he laid back, his eyes closed and the lines on his face tight with pain and tension.
“You need to tell me when your head is bothering you.”
“They’re both bothering me right now.”
Raina looked to where his jeans were tented and gasped.
“I’ll be fine in a few hours.”
